Inflation has reached its lowest point in 2 1/2 years. The unemployment rate has stayed below 4% for the longest stretch since the 1960s.
  • calypsopub@lemmy.world
    43·
    2 years ago

    My son graduated with a degree in economics in 2020 and still hasn’t found a job. He’s not counted in the unemployment numbers because he hasn’t filed for benefits. We need to look at labor participation as well as underemployment instead of the useless stats being used in this article. Real wages have tanked. People are running up debt just to buy groceries. It’s desperate out there.

    • n2burns@lemmy.ca
      16·
      2 years ago

      He’s not counted in the unemployment numbers because he hasn’t filed for benefits.

      That’s untrue. From the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics:

      In the Current Population Survey, people are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following criteria:

      • They were not employed during the survey reference week.
      • They were available for work during the survey reference week, except for temporary illness.
      • They made at least one specific, active effort to find a job during the 4-week period ending with the survey reference week (see active job search methods) OR they were temporarily laid off and expecting to be recalled to their job.

      There are other statistics measuring unemployment claims, but when you hear, “the unemployment rate for Oct 2023 is 3.9%”, that is unrelated to benefits.