[Revolting cat!]

Someone once posted an official gubmint explanation of how the unemployment stats are compiled. Guess what? It's all Alice in the Wonderland stuff. The sincere beyond belief explanation had it that counting all unemployed would be physically impossible, so the gubmint samples the populace every week, by phone, or who knows how, but in the end, unless you are a staunch believer in the notion that a 1000 household sample can have any relationship to reality, the unemployment figures you see in the papers are total fantasy!

[AntiGuv]

You are absolutely spot on with your comments. I tried to insinuate the same with my citation of the Household Survey. Glad someone picked up on that!

[annyokie]

True! Full-time students are considered Full-Time employees.

[gcruse]

Yup. Unemployment numbers are based on surveys. Abe Abelson, the sharpest cookie in Barron's box, came out a decade ago revealing what manipulated boguses these numbers are and said any CFO who based forecasts and spending on government numbers is out of his mind.