Reply #7: If you still report to the unemployment office...

[punpirate]

... after your benefits run out, showing that you are looking for work, they can track you. But, if you don't go to the unemployment office (and most professionals and semi-professionals don't because, typically, the jobs there aren't what they're looking for), they can't track you. You fall into the category of "discouraged workers" who've stopped looking for work, and frankly, I don't think anyone has a handle on just how large that category is. And, it is big.

Cheers.