Well, yes and no. This article isn't about unemployment, it's about jobless claims. While jobless claims are tallied the way you describe, unemployment numbers

Well, yes and no. This article isn't about unemployment, it's about jobless claims. While jobless claims are tallied the way you describe, unemployment numbers are derived from a monthly poll: http://www.bls.gov/cps/uiclaims.htm http://www.bls.gov/cps/uiclaims.htm Those numbers also probably understate the problem, but not for the reason you mentioned; the official unemployment numbers do not include people that are underemployed or those that have stopped actively looking for a job.