It's important for job seekers to know and understand numbers such as the employment and unemployment rates. These numbers allow you to compare employment and unemployment rates for a period of time. Employment rates can be calculated for cities, counties, states and countries. The employment and unemployment rates only include people above age 16 who are potential workers. People in school, and who are retired or institutionalized are not included in the calculations.

Determine the number of employed people and total labor force by accessing the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Record the number of employed people and total labor force.

Calculate the employment rate. Divide the number of employed people by the total labor force. Multiply this number by 100. The result of these calculations is the employment rate.

Calculate the unemployment rate. You can either subtract the employment rate from 100 to determine the unemployment rate, or you can divide the number of unemployed people by the total labor force and multiply by 100.