Unemployment rate statistics in 2021: first signs of recovery after crisis DevelopmentAid

Unemployment refers to the share of the working-age population that is currently without a job. The COVID-19 crisis had significantly affected the global labor market pushing unemployment rates to alarming levels. In the meantime, many advanced economies such as the UK, Canada, Australia, and the United States are facing large-scale labor shortages. This article explains the concept of unemployment and presents certain statistics and facts related to it.

What is unemployment?

Unemployment is a concept that refers to those members of society who are actively looking for but who are unable to find a job. This group also includes those who are working but are not in an appropriate position, for example, a junior accountant who works part-time at a local store while looking for suitable employment that matches her/his qualifications. Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union (EU), defines an unemployed person as someone aged 15 to 74 who has actively looked for a job in the last four weeks prior to the time of analysis and who is available to start work within the following two weeks.

The unemployment rate is the percentage of unemployed people reported within the total labor force.

Unemployment and the COVID-crisis

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic had caused severe turbulence in the global labor market. The problem is two-fold. On one hand, many people have lost their jobs, therefore, pushing unemployment rates to alarming levels. On the other hand, many advanced economies, such as the UK, Canada, Australia, and the United States are facing large-scale labor shortages. In 2021, the global unemployment rate is expected to reach 6.3% which translates to around 220 million people worldwide. This is 0.2% less than in 2020 but still above the 2019 pre-pandemic level of 5.4%. The International Labour Organization (ILO) expects that the global unemployment rate will stand at 5.7% in 2022.

Unemployment rate statistics in 2021

There are several facts and statistical indicators relating to the rates of unemployment:

In 2021, around 220 million people or 6.3% of the global working-age population are expected to remain unemployed
In 2022, around 205 million people globally will remain unemployed
In 2020, around 114 million jobs were lost at the global level. The ILO projects that the job shortfall will reach 75 million in 2021 and 23 million in 2022
About 34 million people were unemployed in 2019 on the African continent. This number grew to 35 million in 2020 and to 38 million people in 2021 and it is projected to stay at that level in 2022. The sub-Saharan region is the most affected by unemployment with 29 million people being without a job in 2021
In contrast, the OECD countries (members of the Organizations for Economic Cooperation and Development) continued to register a decline in unemployment rates for five consecutive months in 2021 reaching 5.8% in August
The number of unemployed workers across the OECD area declined by 1.1 million in 2021 reaching 38.7 million although this is about 3.3 million people more compared to the pre-pandemic period
In November 2021, the unemployment rate fell by 0.4% or by 542,000 people in the United States of America, reaching 4.2% or 6.9 million people. Nonetheless, both indicators are significantly higher compared to pre-pandemic levels (3.5% or 5.7 million people).

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