失业 (shī yè) literally means 'to lose one’s occupation' — 失 (shī) means 'to lose' or 'to miss', and 业 (yè) means 'occupation', 'profession', or 'business'. Together, they form a formal noun meaning 'unemployment', referring to the state of being without a paid job despite being willing and able to work. It is commonly used in news reports, government policy discussions, economic analyses, and personal narratives about job loss.

This term carries a neutral-to-somber connotation and is often paired with words like 率 (lǜ, 'rate'), 如失业率 (shīyè lǜ, 'unemployment rate'), or verbs like 面临 (miànlín, 'to face') and 导致 (dǎozhì, 'to cause'). Unlike colloquial expressions such as 没工作 (méi gōngzuò, 'no job'), 失业 is standard, written-language vocabulary appropriate for official, academic, and journalistic contexts.