Unemployment in the United States
Government Statistics
When people are unemployed, the entire country is affected. The more individuals who are out of work, the less money that is spent on material items, such as houses, cars, as well as other high ticket merchandise, which can lead to more people losing their jobs since the economy becomes volatile. This is where the government steps in to collect data regarding the unemployment in our country. (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, How the Government Measures Unemployment)
Where do the statistics come from
It’s more complicated than just looking up unemployment insurance (UI) information. That is how most people tend to think that the unemployment numbers are determined. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When the insurance benefits run out, people may still be out of work or – in a lot of cases – people may not be eligible for unemployment benefits because they may have quit their job and for the most part, if a person quits, they can’t collect UI. Another myth about unemployment data is that a lot of Americans think that every person who is out of work is counted. That would mean that census takers would have to go door to door to count the unemployed. By the time that they would get that done, they would have to start all over again. Since reading the information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s really confusing how the data is collected, but I am going to break it down the best that I can:
The numbers come out each month for the number of unemployed individuals from the month prior through a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS). This way of calculating unemployment has been going on since 1940 with a major overhaul in 1994 including a redesign of the survey. (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, How the Government Measures Unemployment)
This is, in a nutshell, how unemployment is figured out: The survey has a sample of 60,000
When people are unemployed, the entire country is affected. The more individuals who are out of work, the less money that is spent on material items, such as houses, cars, as well as other high ticket merchandise, which can lead to more people losing their jobs since the economy becomes volatile. This is where the government steps in to collect data regarding the unemployment in our country. (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, How the Government Measures Unemployment)
Where do the statistics come from
It’s more complicated than just looking up unemployment insurance (UI) information. That is how most people tend to think that the unemployment numbers are determined. This couldn’t be further from the truth. When the insurance benefits run out, people may still be out of work or – in a lot of cases – people may not be eligible for unemployment benefits because they may have quit their job and for the most part, if a person quits, they can’t collect UI. Another myth about unemployment data is that a lot of Americans think that every person who is out of work is counted. That would mean that census takers would have to go door to door to count the unemployed. By the time that they would get that done, they would have to start all over again. Since reading the information from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it’s really confusing how the data is collected, but I am going to break it down the best that I can:
The numbers come out each month for the number of unemployed individuals from the month prior through a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS). This way of calculating unemployment has been going on since 1940 with a major overhaul in 1994 including a redesign of the survey. (United States Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, How the Government Measures Unemployment)
This is, in a nutshell, how unemployment is figured out: The survey has a sample of 60,000