[Smokin' Joe]

Well, maybe I am wrong, but I had been brought to believe that if you no longer qualified for benefits, you were removed from the officially unemployed. Note that the statistic used is one of initial jobless claims (unemployment), not who lost a job. If you can't claim, you aren't counted.

Now, if I'm wrong, kindly show me how and provide some links so I can be better educated on the subject. Thanks.

[1rudeboy]

My pleasure. The following provides a number of reasons why making unemployment compensation a factor in calculating the unemployment rate is unsound (statistically).

What do the unemployment insurance (UI) figures measure?

The UI figures are not produced by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Statistics on insured unemployment in the United States are collected as a by-product of UI programs. Workers who lose their jobs and are covered by these programs typically file claims ("initial claims") that serve as notice that they are beginning a period of unemployment. Claimants who qualify for benefits are counted in the insured unemployment figures (as "continued claims"). Data on UI claims are maintained by the Employment and Training Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Labor, and are available on the Internet at: http://workforcesecurity.doleta.gov/unemploy/claims.asp.

These data are not used to measure total unemployment because they exclude several important groups. To begin with, not all workers are covered by UI programs. For example, self-employed workers, unpaid family workers, workers in certain not-for-profit organizations, and several other small (primarily seasonal) worker categories are not covered. In addition, the insured unemployed exclude the following:

• Unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits
• Unemployed workers who have not yet earned benefit rights (such as new entrants or reentrants to the labor force)
• Disqualified workers whose unemployment is considered to have resulted from their own actions rather than from economic conditions; for example, a worker discharged for misconduct on the job
• Otherwise eligible unemployed persons who do not file for benefits

Current Population Survey FAQ's, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

To summarize: the government keeps track of the number of folks receiving UI. It results in the numbers reported as "initial claims" and "continuing claims." Those two numbers stand alone from the "unemployment rate" (U-3 or otherwise). The "labor force participation rate" (which is the primary method to massage the U-3 number) also has nothing to do with the number of folks receiving or not receiving UI.

[kiryandil]

See my post #14. I meant to ping you to it, but got my foot stuck in the BS.

[kiryandil]

rude is just blowing smoke. The unemployment rate depends heavily on the labor participation rate.

Here is an actual Fed economist on the subject (not some anonymous Interwebs sniper with an unknown agenda):

"Interpreting the Recent Decline in Labor Force Participation" - Willem Van Zandweghe (in the Economic Review of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. )
http://www.kc.frb.org/Publicat/EconRev/PDF/12q1VanZandweghe.pdf

Published 1st quarter, 2012.

[zeestephen]

Joe,

You are at least partially right.

To be counted as “unemployed,” a person must be actively searching for work.

By definition, people drawing Unemployment Benefits must look for work, and, by definition, are unemployed.

Once their UI Benefits are exhausted, however, some people - but not all people - end their job search and drop out of the workforce.

Those people are NOT counted as unemployed.