In: Economics
Labor force refers to all those people 16 years and older who are employed and unemployed. Employed refers to all those working and self-employed workers whereas unemployed are those who are not currently in a job but are available for a job. This includes new entrants or re-entrants, people who either quit or lost the last job, and also those who were laid off. The people not included in the labor force are students, retired personnel, disabled or household workers, and discouraged workers as these individuals are not actively looking for a job.
Unemployment rate =Unemployed /Labor force *100
Labor force = Employed +unemployed
Unemployed are - 16 years and older, have been actively looking for work and available for work for the past 4 weeks
For Instance US employment statistics for December 2018
Total labor force =163240
Employed =156945
Unemployed =6294
Unemployment rate =6294/163240=3.9%