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All these facts were true when unemployment rate was higher. So even if the numbers are off by some offset they improved.

by msoad 12y ago

tomp 12y ago
It makes sense that the rate decreases - people give up hope and stop looking for jobs, or get shitty 3hrs/week jobs, and thus drop out of official statistics, without any actual improvement.
- mikecb 12y ago
  Here's U6, which takes into account these groups: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/U6RATE http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/U6RATE
- Touche 12y ago
  Presumably "giving up hope" would be evenly distributed, not all at once as to cause the rate to drop significantly.
- Varcht 12y ago
  Not only that but if they run out of benefits looking for a job they lose their eligibility to be "unemployed".
ColinDabritz 12y ago
Except that we don't track those numbers, so it could be that earlier in the recession more people were recently out of work, and looking hard, meaning they were counted in this number. Right now, it's been a lot longer, so perhaps many of them have given up, even if they need jobs, so they are no longer being counted. The number of people needing jobs, regardless of searching might have gone down similarly to the reported number, or it might have stayed exactly the same overall. Without the information, we don't know. I certainly know a few people who need jobs and can't get them, and some of them aren't being counted. Maybe it would be good to find out.
- dailyrorschach 12y ago
  The people not being counted are those people who are totally excluded from the workforce: disabled, students, retirees and other dependents. The folks you seem to be saying are part of discourage and marginally attached workers, and are counted as part of the U5 and U6 measurement. When we talk about the large big pot of unemployed and want to work or don’t have enough work, U6 is the measure usually referred to. We are improving on that measure as well. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
- srdev 12y ago
  We do track those numbers. They've been dropping.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
libria 12y ago
I thought this too initially, but the problem is that the unemployed can shift from one category that isn't counted to another that is. Unemployment rate goes up, but the same people still don't have jobs. What could be said is that it is a non-partisan measurement error both sides can abuse equally.

All these facts were true when unemployment rate was higher. So even if the numbers are off by some offset they improved.

by msoad 12y ago

All these facts were true when unemployment rate was higher. So even if the numbers are off by some offset they improved.

tomp 12y ago

It makes sense that the rate decreases - people give up hope and stop looking for jobs, or get shitty 3hrs/week jobs, and thus drop out of official statistics, without any actual improvement.

mikecb 12y ago
Here's U6, which takes into account these groups: http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/U6RATE http://research.stlouisfed.org/fred2/series/U6RATE
Touche 12y ago
Presumably "giving up hope" would be evenly distributed, not all at once as to cause the rate to drop significantly.
Varcht 12y ago
Not only that but if they run out of benefits looking for a job they lose their eligibility to be "unemployed".

ColinDabritz 12y ago

Except that we don't track those numbers, so it could be that earlier in the recession more people were recently out of work, and looking hard, meaning they were counted in this number. Right now, it's been a lot longer, so perhaps many of them have given up, even if they need jobs, so they are no longer being counted. The number of people needing jobs, regardless of searching might have gone down similarly to the reported number, or it might have stayed exactly the same overall. Without the information, we don't know. I certainly know a few people who need jobs and can't get them, and some of them aren't being counted. Maybe it would be good to find out.

dailyrorschach 12y ago
The people not being counted are those people who are totally excluded from the workforce: disabled, students, retirees and other dependents. The folks you seem to be saying are part of discourage and marginally attached workers, and are counted as part of the U5 and U6 measurement. When we talk about the large big pot of unemployed and want to work or don’t have enough work, U6 is the measure usually referred to. We are improving on that measure as well. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
srdev 12y ago
We do track those numbers. They've been dropping.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

libria 12y ago

I thought this too initially, but the problem is that the unemployed can shift from one category that isn't counted to another that is. Unemployment rate goes up, but the same people still don't have jobs. What could be said is that it is a non-partisan measurement error both sides can abuse equally.