> You can argue the accuracy of the numbers or estimates, but my understanding it is just supposed to take into account long-term discouraged workers Sure, and

> You can argue the accuracy of the numbers or estimates, but my understanding it is just supposed to take into account long-term discouraged workers Sure, and my estimate (based on very sophisticated modeling I won't give you any details about) is that the number of long-term discouraged workers is exactly 42. Here's the entirety of SGS's stated methodology for their estimate by the way: > The ShadowStats number—a broad unemployment measure more in line with common experience—is my estimate. The approximation of the ShadowStats “long-term discouraged worker” category—those otherwise largely defined out of statistical existence in 1994—reflects proprietary modeling based on a variety of private and public surveying over the last two-plus decades. SGS's estimates don't even pass basic plausibility tests either. For example, in May 2015 the SGS metric was 23%. Using the published U6 for the same month, we can solve for SGS's estimate for the number of long term discouraged workers: 26,114,100. That's 4x the BLS's estimate of people who wanted a job but did not not have one (6,536,000) and 7x the number who wanted a job and had not looked at least once in the last year (3,712,000) for the same time period. What's their model? What "public and private" surveys are they taking into account? What makes up the discrepancy between their estimates and the BLS's numbers? We don't know because SGS doesn't tell us, but I think we can both make an educated guess; their numbers are pulled out of their underwear.