Glossary:Long-term unemployment
Long-term unemployment refers to the number of people who are out of work and have been actively seeking employment for at least a year.
An unemployed person is defined as being aged 15 to 74 (or aged 16 to 74 in Spain, Iceland and Norway as well as the United Kingdom) who was without work during the reference week, was currently available for work and was either actively seeking work in the last four weeks or had already found a job to start within the next three months. The unemployment period is defined as the duration of a job search, or as the length of time since the last job was held (if shorter than the time spent on a job search). This definition follows International Labour Organization guidelines.
Further information
- The European Union Labour Force Survey: main characteristics of the national surveys
- The social situation in the European Union 2005-2006