>> In the US "unemployed" refers to those seeking a job... if you sit on
>> your hands you cease to get benefits and go off the unemployment
>> rolls. At least in Arizona (it varies state-by-state) you must report
>> weekly asking for a job placement, or you're history.
>
>Similar here as well. The unemployment rate refers to those "actively
>searching for work" It's meant to catch people just entering the
>workforce as well as those collecting EI.
>
>That means that a rising unemployment rate can be a sign of a good
>economy reflecting 'discouraged workers' returning to the work force or
>a sign of a faltering economy as workers are laid off and new entrants
>have difficulty finding employment.
Or that immigrants are attracted to the place, it being an improvement over where they were. Unemployment will diffuse from a zone of 25% into a zone of 5%.
John