Counting All the Jobless: Problems with the Official Unemployment Rate. Thirty-Seventh Report by the Committee on Government Operations. 99th Congress, 2d session. [Report No.: House-R-99-661

Institution	Congress of the U. S., Washington, DC. House Committee on Government Operations.
Titel	Counting All the Jobless: Problems with the Official Unemployment Rate. Thirty-Seventh Report by the Committee on Government Operations. 99th Congress, 2d session. [Report No.: House-R-99-661
Quelle	(1986), (15 Seiten)Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; Monographie
Schlagwörter	Recht; Data Collection; Data Interpretation; Dislocated Workers; Employment Patterns; Employment Statistics; Error of Measurement; Part Time Employment; Reliability; Rural Areas; Statistical Analysis; Statistical Bias; Underemployment; Unemployment; Urban Areas; Validity + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Data capture; Datensammlung; Data evaluation; Datenauswertung; Arbeitsloser; Beschäftigungsstruktur; Employment; Statistics; Arbeitsmarktstatistik; Beschäftigtenstatistik; Messfehler; Part-time employment; Teilzeitbeschäftigung; Reliabilität; Rural area; Ländlicher Raum; Statistische Analyse; Unterbeschäftigung; Arbeitslosigkeit; Urban area; Stadtregion; Gültigkeit
Abstract	The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes the official unemployment rate on the first Friday of each month based on a sample survey of 59,500 households called the Current Population Survey. Unemployment data for states and local areas are published monthly by the BLS in cooperation with the state employment security agencies. The primary basis for calculating local area unemployment statistics is the count of residents claiming unemployment insurance benefits under state law. State employment agencies use a formula methodology to measure the labor force because not all workers are covered by unemployment insurance. Local area unemployment data are often produced for small areas that the BLS concedes are subject to large relative error. A study of the accuracy of the official unemployment rate revealed several major flaws in the method used to calculate it. The BLS actually calculates seven rates of unemployment. Unfortunately, the U-5, i.e., the figure commonly called the "official unemployment rate," excludes discouraged workers and individuals who are part-time workers for economic reasons. These persons are, however, counted in the U-7 rate. Specific problems also exist with respect to measuring unemployment in urban and rural areas. The consistent undercounting of the number of jobless persons in the United States has serious ramifications for Congress's attempts to develop and fund education and training programs. (MN)
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2004/1/01