How do you explain the jobs report?

The economy lost 63,000 jobs last month, and we need to generate 150,000 a minth just to keep up with the birth rate and immigration.

Can someone please explain to me how they can say that the unemployment rate went from 4.9 to 4.8? Did 200,000 people just suddenly disappear from the potential workforce?

How do you explain the jobs report?credit bureau

Ok, i%26#039;ll answer ya.

The economy lost 63,000 payroll jobs.

Thats a net loss.

IE: you take all the jobs created and subtract all the jobs lost, that gives you the net jobs lost or gained.

Generally, there are around 350,000 jobs lost every month in the US, but then typically there are more than 350,000 new jobs created.

So last month, there were 63,000 more jobs lost, than created.

Of course, this is just an estimate.

It is not actual hard numbers, they have no way of ever getting hard numbers.

The numbers come from a survey that the labor department sends out to Business%26#039;s nationwide.

As to the unemployment numbers.

To many people seem to think that the unemployment numbers, come from how many people are collecting unemployment.

And thats just not true, and never has been true.

If you quit a job or get fired for cause, you cannot collect unemployment, if you don%26#039;t work long enough or make enough, you cannot collect unemployment.

The National Unemployment rate, is calculated from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly survey of over 60,000 households.

It is the number of people who are unemployed, who are currently looking for work.

The results of the two surveys, are not linked to each other.

As in this case, there was a net job loss, but the number of people who were unemployed who are looking for work, went down.

People need to remember, they are only measuring trends.

The Government has no way of knowing, exactly how many jobs are created, how many people lose thier job, or are hired each and every month.

The first link, is the labor department webpage telling how they calculate the unemployment rate.

The second link, is the labor department reports on unemployments, how many are employed, size of the labor force, etc.

Use the seasonly adjusted rate when using the page, that will give you the same info thats reported to the media.

You can also go back and look at previous years.

If you cannot figure out how to use the page, e-mail me and i%26#039;ll talk you thru it, it can be confusing and they don%26#039;t give directions on how to use the page.

How do you explain the jobs report?

loan

Unemployment figures are the world%26#039;s greatest works of fiction.

they are adjusted according to the needs of whatever politician is using them.|||Only those claiming benefits are counted as %26#039;unemployed%26#039;|||The jobs report is never fully accurate anyway as it doesn%26#039;t count every person that works for themselves.

Besides, the unemployment rate isn%26#039;t that bad. I remember in the late 70s and early 80s when it was near nine and ten percent.|||Once your unemployment benefits run out, you are no longer considered unemployed; you are just out of the workforce. That%26#039;s the biggest criticism of the unemployment rate statistics. If you can%26#039;t find a job for a couple months, you are no longer counted toward that statistic.|||The loss of a job doesn%26#039;t always mean that someone lost a job... it means that a the job no longer exists... (it is possible that no one was holding the job when it did exist)

Also there are 2 numbers in play here which are totally different numbers. The jobless rate and the unemployment rate.

Jobless means that you don%26#039;t have a job (even people like Bill Gates who don%26#039;t have a position within their company even though they can sit on the board of directors can be included in this number)

Unemployed means you applied for benefits through your state...

(those actually could be the other way around... I just know there are 2 numbers and they mean different things...)|||The unemployment rate is determined by those who are claiming benefits. It does not count those who have been unemployed longer than 6 months or, who have given up attempting to find a job.|||63,000 illegals must have left the country because of lack of work. Only 11, 937,000 to go.|||For the purpose of unemployment, only those people collecting benefits are counted. People who have exhausted their benefits are not counted.

During the great Depression nobody would have been considered unemployed the way it%26#039;s counted today.|||sadly to say but some people went back to work, we do have seasonal jobs beginning right now and in the qurter that was reported the Christmas workers (temps) were layed off. Find the Unemployment Index and you will see why they not too worried about the 4.8 rate--in the Times of Great Clinton Economy w were at the 7.0 and higher unemployment. During that time period we still had Foriegn Trade but we know that went South and North with NAFTA

During the 1990s with the almost double the unemployement now and losses in the Index it was called economic boom because more money was changing hands. Now , even though we have not had one loss quarter yet the same changing of hands with money is called a recession. That was brought up many a time in the 1990s and the media blew it away time and again|||A good question. This is an ongoing headache for economists, policy analysts--and economics students!

Here%26#039;s the technical reason: the %26quot;unemployment rate%26quot; measures only those who don%26#039;t have jobs but are %26quot;in the job market%26quot;--looking for work.

That seems straightforward, but what about people who decide now is s not the time and go back to school to improve their skills while they wait for the job market to improve? Or who just get discouraged and quit looking? etc., etc., etc.

Another example: an 18-year old out looking for work is part of the %26quot;work force%26quot;--and %26quot;unemployed%26quot; until he finds a job. His next-door neighbor of the same age is going to college and she%26#039;s NOT looking for a job. So she isn%26#039;t unemployed--she%26#039;s not part of te work force. And if you think about it, it wouldn%26#039;t make sense to count these examples differently.

But, those people DON%26#039;T get counted. The unemployment rate is notorious for this limitation. But jsut exactly how many people are %26quot;jobless%26quot; is hard to measure exactly. Alternative measures have been tried--but so far, flawed as it is, the unemployment rate is about the best anyone%26#039;s thought of. But about all it does is give a rough measure--its jsut not all that precise. So what you have to do is look at several measures (including how many jobs are created/eliminated) and make a judgment.|||As Fed Up said, only those claiming unemployment are counted. Those who benefits have been exhausted are no longer counted. If they counted the potential workforce, the numbers be even worse.