The underutilisation rate is equally as important as the unemployment rate. It gives a broader measure of untapped capacity in the labour market.
Underutilisation reflects people who:
- do not have a job, but are available to work and are actively seeking employment - unemployed
- are employed part time (fewer than 30 hours a week) and who both want and are available to increase the number of hours they work - underemployed
- want a job and are available to work, but are not currently looking for a job - available potential jobseeker
- are unavailable to start work but are looking for a job as they will be able to start work within the next month - unavailable jobseeker.
Introducing underutilisation in the labour market explains the need for underutilisation measures, what underutilisation is, and how we measure it.
The data in this indicator is seasonally adjusted.
| Quarter | Men | Women | Total |
| Dec-09 | 12.8 | 17.5 | 15 |
| Mar-10 | 11.6 | 15.8 | 13.6 |
| Jun-10 | 12.3 | 16.2 | 14.2 |
| Sep-10 | 11.5 | 16.5 | 13.9 |
| Dec-10 | 11.6 | 16.5 | 14 |
| Mar-11 | 11.4 | 16.9 | 14 |
| Jun-11 | 12.1 | 16.3 | 14.1 |
| Sep-11 | 11.1 | 16.4 | 13.6 |
| Dec-11 | 12.1 | 15.5 | 13.7 |
| Mar-12 | 11.7 | 16.8 | 14.1 |
| Jun-12 | 11.9 | 17.8 | 14.7 |
| Sep-12 | 13.5 | 17.7 | 15.6 |
| Dec-12 | 12.4 | 17.3 | 14.7 |
| Mar-13 | 10.4 | 15.9 | 13 |
| Jun-13 | 10.6 | 16.2 | 13.3 |
| Sep-13 | 11.1 | 17.3 | 14.1 |
| Dec-13 | 11.1 | 17.1 | 14 |
| Mar-14 | 10.9 | 15.8 | 13.2 |
| Jun-14 | 10.5 | 16.4 | 13.3 |
| Sep-14 | 10.2 | 15.6 | 12.8 |
| Dec-14 | 10.5 | 16.4 | 13.3 |
| Mar-15 | 10.8 | 16.6 | 13.6 |
| Jun-15 | 10.6 | 16.9 | 13.6 |
| Sep-15 | 11.2 | 16.5 | 13.7 |
| Dec-15 | 10.1 | 15 | 12.5 |
| Mar-16 | 11.2 | 16.3 | 13.7 |
| Jun-16 | 10.5 | 15.9 | 13.1 |
| Sep-16 | 10 | 15.6 | 12.7 |
| Dec-16 | 9.7 | 15.4 | 12.4 |
| Mar-17 | 9.3 | 15.5 | 12.3 |
| Jun-17 | 9.5 | 14.7 | 12 |
| Sep-17 | 9.3 | 15.2 | 12.1 |
| Dec-17 | 9.4 | 15.3 | 12.2 |
| Mar-18 | 9.5 | 14.6 | 11.9 |
| Jun-18 | 9.9 | 14.5 | 12.1 |
| Sep-18 | 9.3 | 13.6 | 11.3 |
| Dec-18 | 10 | 14.6 | 12.2 |
| Mar-19 | 9 | 13.9 | 11.3 |
| Jun-19 | 9.2 | 13.2 | 11.1 |
| Sep-19 | 8.4 | 12.4 | 10.3 |
| Dec-19 | 8.4 | 12 | 10.1 |
| Mar-20 | 8.3 | 12.8 | 10.4 |
| Jun-20 | 9.4 | 15 | 12.1 |
| Sep-20 | 10.6 | 15.9 | 13.1 |
| Dec-20 | 9.7 | 14.4 | 11.9 |
| Mar-21 | 9.9 | 14.6 | 12.1 |
| Jun-21 | 8.3 | 13 | 10.5 |
| Sep-21 | 7.7 | 10.7 | 9.1 |
| Dec-21 | 7.4 | 11.2 | 9.2 |
| Mar-22 | 7.7 | 11.2 | 9.4 |
| Jun-22 | 7.5 | 11.2 | 9.3 |
| Sep-22 | 7.3 | 10.8 | 9 |
| Dec-22 | 7.5 | 11.4 | 9.3 |
| Mar-23 | 7.4 | 10.9 | 9.1 |
| Jun-23 | 8.2 | 11.8 | 9.9 |
| Sep-23 | 8.7 | 12.3 | 10.4 |
| Dec-23 | 8.6 | 13 | 10.7 |
More data
Use Infoshare to find underutilisation data.
Subject category: Work income and spending
Group: Household labour force survey - HLF
CSV files for download - the latest data from Infoshare and our information releases.
Definitions and metadata
Labour market statistics - DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce the labour market statistics information release, and related metadata.
Household Labour Force Survey - DataInfo+ gives general methodology used to produce household labour force statistics, and related metadata.
