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those who, for any number of reasons, are considered by the methods of the Department of Labor as not employed and yet not "actively seeking work" are not counted as unemployed.

And just how many people can go that long without employment? Where does the money come from to survive? Why wouldn't they be looking for work? Maybe they're working at jobs under the table?

An unemployed person who has given up is not counted as unemployed.

Some people, especially those looking to sell books, believe that there are 5 million people in this country who have become so discouraged that they've quit looking for work altogether. Beyond the obvious ridiculousness of such a statement, one has to wonder just how these unemployed people survive without an income while the number of help wanted ads continues to grow.

Did you know the BLS also measures these folks? NR did a report on the falsehood of the perception that there are lots of discouraged workers out there. This is what they found:

The percentage of unemployed people who have given up looking for work is low, by historical standards, and has recently been dropping. We know this, because the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the same agency that counts the number of unemployed people, also counts the number of discouraged workers — or the number of people who have given up looking for work and say they have done so because they believe there is no appropriate work to be found.
Here's what the BLS found: Only about a third of a percent of American workers are classified in the "discouraged" category. That's right: Ninety-nine and two-thirds percent are not discouraged. This is hardly the teeming mass of employment despondency that we have been led to believe is out there.

The Myth of the Discouraged Worker

"And just how many people can go that long without employment? Where does the money come from to survive? Why wouldn't they be looking for work? Maybe they're working at jobs under the table?"

Among the no-longer-working "discourged", you could find:

A - 20 something, high school grad, laid off 18 months ago, living with parents because he/she and girlfriend/boy friend cannot afford to get a place and get married.

(I know two fellas and one young lady - all on Long Island - who fit this category).

B - 50 something downsized former manager, BA liberal arts 30 years ago, wife working at Walmart in order to help pay the bills and single 20 somehing daughter has moved back home to help with mortgage.

(two 50 something friends are considering super-early, super discounted start of pensions after two years of unemployment)

C - 40 something, widowed, grandmother, supporting one grandchild, laid off from garmet factory, surviving on meager survivor benefits of dead husbands meager pension, which until she lost her job was keeping the bank, the utlitity company and hunger at bay but with inflation and constant use of meager savings will not do so much longer.

(my sister-in-law in Abilene Texas has three females in her church in this situation, who the congregation is striving to keep off of welfare)

The fact that these types of cases indicate that not every "discouraged" worker is starving, does not change their status from negative to positive in terms of what they would prefer and what we should want to prefer the economy to be doing for them.

The question is not how good is the economy - in its gross, aggregate numbers. The question is who is it good for, who is it benefitting, who is not benefitting and why.

Force employers to fire the 12 million illegals and I bet every single one of the types of individuals I described above would have a job. Who is the economy benefitting, and who is it leaving behind?

The BLS figures about "discouraged" workers are based on answers to survey questions from a telephone poll (the same "employed" "unemployed" poll, and those in unfavorable situations are likely to provide the most subjective answers, which can overstate or understate their level of being "discouraged", influenced somewhat by how they, subjectively, want to portray themself. I would not rely on them, and the mere fact that there are no other direct source means to count them does not improve their reliability.