Glossary

Labour Indicators

What are Indicators and what do they mean? That is a question most people ask and we have the answer to.

INDICATOR DEFINITION
Labour force participation rate The labour force participation rate is a measure of the proportion of a country’s working-age(15 - 64 years) population that engages actively in the labour market, either by working or looking for work; it provides an indication of the size of the supply of labour available to engage in the production of goods and services, relative to the population at working age. The breakdown of the labour force by sex and age group gives a profile of the distribution of the economically active population within a country.
Employment to population ratio
The employment-to-population ratio is defined as the proportion of a country’s working-age population that is employed. A high ratio means that a large proportion of a country’s population is employed, while a low ratio means that a large share of the population is not involved directly in market-related activities, because they are either unemployed or (more likely) out of the labour force altogether.
Status in employment The indicator of status in employment distinguishes between two categories of the total employed. These are: (a) wage and salaried workers (also known as employees); and (b) self-employed workers. These two groups of workers are presented as percentages of the total employed for both sexes and for males and females separately. Information on the subcategories of the self-employed group – self-employed workers with employees (employers), self-employed workers without employees (own-account workers), members of producers‟ cooperatives and contributing family workers (also known as unpaid family workers) – is not available for all countries but is presented wherever possible.
 
Employment by sector The  indicator for employment by sector divides employment into broad categories which include: Agriculture, Mining and Quarrying, Manufacturing, Electricity & Water, Construction, Wholesale & Retail Trade, Hotels & Restaurant, Transport & Communication, Finance, Real Estate, Public Administration, Local Government, Education, Health, Other Community and Private Households.
Employment by occupation The indicator for employment by occupation comprises statistics on jobs classified according to major groups as defined in one or more versions of the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO).
Part-time workers The indicator on part-time workers focuses on individuals whose working hours total less than "full time", as a proportion of total employment.
Hours of work An overall picture of the time that the employed throughout the world devote to work activities, measured either in hours worked per week or the actual hours a person has actually worked.
Employment in the informal economy a measure of employment in the informal economy as a percentage of total non-agricultural employment.
Unemployment rate The unemployment rate is probably the best-known labour market measure and certainly one of the most widely quoted by media in many countries as it is believed to reflect the lack of employment at national levels to the greatest and most meaningful extent. Unemployment rate is defined most basically as the percentage of the total labor force that is unemployed but actively seeking employment and willing to work.
Youth unemployment Youth unemployment is widely viewed as an important policy issue for many countries, regardless of their stage of development. For the purpose of this indicator, the term "youth" covers persons aged 15 to 24 years and "adult" refers to persons aged 25 years and over.
 
Long-term unemployment The indicator on long-term unemployment looks at the duration of unemployment, that is, the length of time that an unemployed person has been without work and is looking for a job. This is normally the unemployment of one year or above.
Time-related underemployment This indicator relates to the number of employed persons whose hours of work in the reference period are insufficient in relation to a more desirable employment situation in which the person is willing and available to engage.
 
Inactivity rate The inactivity rate is the proportion of the working-age population that is not in the labour force.
Educational attainment and illiteracy Educational attainment and illiteracy reflects the levels and distribution of the knowledge and skills base of the labour force and the unemployed.
Skills mismatch The new indicator Skills mismatch provides information on the extent to which the supply of skills matches the demand for skills. It is a complement to 'Educational attainment and illiteracy' that presents statistics on the level and distribution of the knowledge and skills base of the labour force and the unemployed.
Wages and compensation costs These two indicators differ in their nature and primary objectives. Wages are important from the workers' point of view and represent a measure of the level and trend of their purchasing power and an approximation of their standard of living, while the second indicator provides an estimate of employers' expenditure toward the employment of its workforce. The indicators are, nevertheless, complementary in that they reflect the two main facets of existing wage measures; one aiming to measure the income of employees, the other showing the costs incurred by employers for employing them.
Labour productivity Labour productivity measures the efficiency of a country with which labour inputs are used in an economy to produce goods and services and it offers a measure of economic growth, competitiveness, and living standards within a country.
Poverty, income distribution, employment by economic class and working poverty This presents two of the indicators that are used for monitoring progress toward the first UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG), eradicating extreme poverty and hunger. The proportion of the population living below the international poverty line of US$1.25 per day is an indicator under the first target of the MDG (on the eradication of poverty), while the proportion of working persons living with their families below the poverty line, the "working poor", is an indicator for monitoring the Goal's second target on decent work, while the MDG's were in force.

According to the KILM 8 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO)