A large portion of the society is not actively engaged in production but they are not considered unemployed because they are not seeking work. Students, homemakers, young children, and retired folks are common examples.

Phoebe Pankovic provides one of the more common examples of being unemployed. Phoebe had been a paid employee of Quadra DG Computer Works, working as an assistant to Preston Pumpernickel. However, she was not a very good worker. So Phoebe was fired. Phoebe has been frantically and actively searching for other employment. She scans the want ads, sends resumes to prospective employers, and has been on several job interviews. Being out of work and seeking work makes her unemployed.

While Phoebe provides a common example of being unemployed, a person can be unemployed in several different ways:

• Like Phoebe, people can be unemployed if they have voluntarily or involuntarily left a job and are seeking another.


• Alternatively, being laid-off from a job with the expectation of being recalled within six months also means a person is unemployed.


• Some folks are unemployed because they are seeking employment after an extended period without a job or having looked for a job.


• Still others fall into the unemployed category because they are seeking employment for the very first time.