unepmloyment ?

Question

i was reading the local newspaper in my home town the other day and the unemployment rate was said to be i 8% based on people who have worked at least 1 day per week. 1 DAY??!! so anyway the question, Is this how the government determines the unemployment rate? and do they really believe that someone that averages one day a week for the year is gainfully employed?

also what is the real current unemployment rate in this country? I mean based on people who have had at least 32 hours a week. or maybe your counted as unemployed if you made less than 10,000 dollars or something like that. I believe that the unemployment rate is a huge lie and is probably more like 20% or more in some places.

Answer 1

In someplaces yes, I suppose the rate of non-working is less than in other places due to harsh weather and seasonal jobs only being counted when the season is "on" and considering those people possibly "unemployed" for the "off" season.
I don't know how they tally the total rate, but state to state I should think it fluctuates based on the average cost of living in whatever state you are looking at statistics for.
There must be statistical webpages or talk radio that can make this question easier to answer but I thought your question was about getting unemployment, not arguing about the % rate in the country. I think they might average all the rates for the states together. Does that make any sense. Well, probably not, however, when people are taking/getting unemploy benefits (in CA) they can still be working part time, less than 30 hours a week, however all the paperwork keeps tabs on what they earn and less money is disbursed if the work averages more than 30.1 hours for any given week.

I don't know how anyone can work only 1 day a week and still earn enough to live on....unless they are being paid in cash daily w/no taxes reported and not having to wait 2 weeks to a month for a paycheck.

Answer 2

I have several employees that work only a few days a week, and don't want to work more. Most people working less than 32 hours by your standards are doing it by choice. Sometimes its because of kids, sometimes its because of pure lazyness.

The government defines unemployment simply as those who are not employed and are currently seeking a job.

Currently the unemployment rate in the US is 4.4% according to the U.S. Department of Labor.