Abstract
Unemployment is seen as a plague in many countries. Plus, we are often told about how to tackle it and given some figures spelling the number of unemployed people. But what does this really mean? Governments do not tell much about unemployment's features and the real consequences it entails. Nevertheless, comprehending the meaning of these data is very important in order to avoid any misunderstanding. From then on, we first need to clarify the different types of unemployment. Secondly, whichever is the type of unemployment we face, we should try to look at the costs it implies to become aware of the indicator's complexity. Thus, in a first part I will distinguish between two types of unemployment: the equilibrium and the cyclical one. In my second part I will focus on the private and social costs related to each type.
