The international standard definition of unemployment adopted by the 13th ICLS is based on
three criteria, which have to be met simultaneously. According to this definition, the unemployed
comprise all persons above the age specified for measuring the economically active population who
during the reference period were:
(a) "without work", i.e. were not in paid employment or self-employment as defined by the
international definition of employment (see section 5 above);
(b) "currently available for work", i.e. were available for paid employment or self-employment during
the reference period; and
(c) "seeking work", i.e. had taken specific steps in a specified recent period to seek paid employment or
self-employment.