The official unemployment rate is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by surveying a representative sample of US households, not a literal count of peo

The official unemployment rate is calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics by surveying a representative sample of US households, not a literal count of people "on the job hunt": https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm So while you should expect the numbers to broadly track together, there can and will be some variance month-over-month in the impact and durability of new jobs' contribution to the overall level of employment.