Involuntary unemployment occurs when people are willing and able to work at the current wage, but they cannot find a job despite actively looking for one.

Key characteristics include:

• Workers want to work and are ready to start immediately.
• They cannot find jobs because there is a lack of job vacancies or low demand in the economy.
• The current wage is higher than what the market can support, which leads to an excess of people looking for work.

This type of unemployment is often seen during recessions or economic downturns. It is a central idea in Keynesian economics and describes a state of disequilibrium in the labor market.