Unused labour supply here refers to all people who are available for employment in the very near future or who have been seeking employment recently. This includes the unemployed, i.e. people who are available and have also been looking for work recently; on the other hand, it includes those people who are not immediately available (due to unfinished studies, personal circumstances or illness for example) as well as those people who are available but who have not been seeking work recently (for example due to giving up looking). The latter share of unused labour supply is not counted among the labour force, unlike the unemployed. In an international context, this group would be referred to as the potential additional labour force. These are people with a closer connection to the labour market than the other, non-active part of the population, i.e. those who are both unavailable and not looking for work. The latter includes school pupils and students, fully occupationally disabled and those in (early) retirement.
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