unemployment

unemployment — noun

1. A count of those in a country or area who have no paid job, used as a sign of ho

1.名詞B2
釋義

A count of those in a country or area who have no paid job, used as a sign of how well the economy is doing.

例句

The government announced that unemployment had fallen to its lowest level in ten years.

unemployment + fallen to + level — collocation for statistical change

Lucía checked the latest unemployment figures before making her investment decision.

同義詞
  • jobless rate

    more informal, used mainly in journalism and everyday speech

  • joblessness level

    less common; emphasises the condition of individuals rather than the economic statistic

反義詞
  • employment rate

    the opposite measure — the percentage of people who have jobs

文法句型

rate of ~

level of ~

~ figures

~ rate

用法筆記

Frequently used with modifiers such as "rising", "falling", "high", or "low" to describe trends. Often appears in collocations with "rate", "level", and "figures".

常見錯誤

❌The unemployment is very high in that area.
✅The unemployment rate is very high in that area.
💡as an economic indicator, "unemployment" is almost always paired with "rate" when quoting a percentage figure.
❌Unemployments in two cities are different.
✅Unemployment figures in the two cities are different.
💡unemployment is uncountable and does not take a plural form.

2. The situation of being without a paid job and wanting or needing to work.

2.名詞B1
釋義

The situation of being without a paid job and wanting or needing to work.

例句

The factory shut-down left Aarav unemployed for many months before he found a new job.

period of unemployment — common time-frame collocation

Nellie used her time of unemployment to learn new skills through free online courses.

同義詞
反義詞
  • employment

    the state of having paid work

  • work

    general term for having a paid job

文法句型

period of ~

long-term ~

~ benefits

用法筆記

Commonly modified by adjectives describing duration ("long-term", "short-term") or cause ("seasonal", "structural"). Often appears with "suffer", "face", "experience", or "reduce".

常見錯誤

❌He is in unemployment since March.
✅He has been unemployed since March.
💡to describe a person's situation, use the adjective "unemployed" rather than the noun "unemployment".
❌She lost her job and now she suffers unemployment.
✅She lost her job and is now unemployed.
💡"suffer unemployment" is grammatically possible but sounds unnatural; "be unemployed" is the standard expression.

3. Regular financial support from the government given to people who are out of wor

3.名詞B2
釋義

Regular financial support from the government given to people who are out of work and looking for a job.

例句

Christopher applied for unemployment after being laid off from his warehouse job.

apply for unemployment — collocation for claiming benefits

The size of a person's unemployment payments depends on their previous salary.

同義詞

文法句型

claim ~

receive ~

be on ~

用法筆記

In British English this sense is often called "unemployment benefit"; in American English it is commonly called "unemployment compensation" or simply "unemployment". Used only in the singular — never "unemployment benefits" as a plural.

常見錯誤

❌I am receiving an unemployment.
✅I am receiving unemployment payments.
💡"unemployment" alone is uncountable; add "payments" or "benefits" when referring to the actual money.
❌He collected unemployments for six months.
✅He collected unemployment for six months.
💡even in this sense the word remains uncountable and has no plural form.