Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Not engaged in a gainful occupation; without paid work: Describes a person who is able and willing to work but does not currently have a job.
   • Not in use; idle: (Less common) Describes something, such as a resource or asset, that is not being utilized.

2. Noun (plural, with 'the'):

   • People who are involuntarily out of work (considered as a group): Refers collectively to individuals who are without employment.

Usage and Examples

• Adjective:

  • She has been unemployed for six months since the factory closed.
  • The government released data on the number of unemployed graduates.
  • During the recession, many skilled workers found themselves unemployed.

• Noun (with 'the'):

  • The new policy aims to provide training for the unemployed.
  • Charities are collecting donations to help the unemployed in our community.

Advanced Usage

• Structurally unemployed: Refers to people who are unemployed due to a mismatch between their skills and the jobs available in the economy.

  • Automation has led to a rise in structurally unemployed manufacturing workers.

• Long-term unemployed: Refers to people who have been without a job for an extended period, often defined as more than six months or a year.

  • Programs targeting the long-term unemployed often include retraining components.

Variants and Related Words

• Unemployment (n): The state of being unemployed; the number or proportion of unemployed people in the economy.

  • The unemployment rate is a key economic indicator.

• Unemployable (adj): (Of a person) considered not suitable for paid employment.

  • Without new skills, he feared becoming unemployable.

Synonyms

• Adjective: Jobless, out of work, out of a job, idle, between jobs.
• Noun (the group): The jobless, the out-of-work.

Antonyms

• Adjective: Employed, working, in work, gainfully employed.
• Noun (the group): The employed, the workforce.

Common Collocations and Phrases

• To become unemployed: To lose one's job.

  • He became unemployed after the company downsized.

• Unemployed benefits/compensation: Payments made by the state to unemployed people.

  • She applied for unemployment benefits to cover her basic expenses while searching for a new job.

Adjective

1. not engaged in a gainful occupation
   • unemployed workers marched on the capital

Noun

1. people who are involuntarily out of work (considered as a group)
   • the long-term unemployed need assistance