Reply #61: That's wrong, Sarah

[davekriss]

The unemployment figure we customarily hear bandied about in the press is based on a household survey (a sampling poll, in effect). You have to be looking for work (in the previous 4 weeks) to count as "unemployed". If you answer, in the survey, that ypu are jobless and haven't looked for work in this period, you are counted as dropped out of the labor force and thus don't contribute to the unemployment figure. There are many, many people, frustrated after looking for work for months and not finding anything, who "drop out of the labor force" in this way, aren't counted in the unemployment figure, but should indeed be counted.

I've read that the real figure -- the percent including the unemployed actively seeking work and the unemployed who want a job but have given up looking in frustration -- is around 13% right now. I don't have a cite, but you can google it up.

On edit I see several have responded. The U6 number cited in post 36 is most relevant, showing a seasonally adjusted number of 13.8% right now.