[autumnraine]

Once again I ask, how are there less jobs and yet unemployment number goes DOWN?

So confused.

[Chuck54]

Once again I ask, how are there less jobs and yet unemployment number goes DOWN?

No mystery to me. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is juggling the numbers to try and elect Democrats in November. Watch the July, August, September & October numbers continue to be manipulated downward to show about a 7.9% unemployment rate by the elections in November.

Bank on it.

[An.American.Expatriate]

"Once again I ask, how are there less jobs and yet unemployment number goes DOWN?"

Once unemployment benefits expire - you are no longer considered unemployed! So MORE people fell off the back end of line than entered.

[Oceander]

Once again I ask, how are there less jobs and yet unemployment number goes DOWN?

So confused.

It is confusing - it's intended to be - so don't feel too bad. Basically, what the so-called "unemployment" number reports is the number of people filing unemployment claims. So, even if employers are reporting fewer actual jobs (i.e., number of new hires dropped, or number of new hires is less than number of new fires), if more people have stopped filing unemployment claims - in this case, because they've used up their maximum benefit - than the number of people who have filed new unemployment claims (on account of having just been let go), then you will see both a drop in the total number of jobs and a drop in the so-called official rate of unemployment.

The system works tolerably well as a proxy for real unemployment during normal times - when the political party in charge is not actively trying to destroy the economy - but in times such as those we are now suffering through, the so-called official rate of unemployment is more of a lie than an accurate statistic (which is, of course, what the democrats are currently using it as - a figleaf to disguise the true rate of current unemployment - counting all those who have lost unemployment benefits and have simply given up looking for work until we get rid of the democrats - which is somewheres around 20% to 25%).

[Lee'sGhost]

People quit looking for jobs.

[driftdiver]

Unemployment only counts those receiving unemployment. It isn’t counting all the people who have given up.

[NC28203]

>>>Once again I ask, how are there less jobs and yet unemployment number goes DOWN? So confused. There are two different surveys that are used to determine the labor situation. One survey is of comapnies (payrolls) and the other surveys households (unemployment rate). Though both are trying to get a stab at the overall situation, because they two different things, the numbers can often tell a differnet story. This is often the case when the labor market is either bottoming or topping out.

The unemployment number is in not determined by the number of people filing claims for unemployment.

[Flint]

c19fan, When people receiving unemployment benefits use them up, they no longer receive unemployment compensation. When they no longer receive unemployment compensation they are dropped from the unemployment rolls.

So anyone who was receiving unemployment compensation and is now no longer, is not in the numbers.

I do know that the extension of unemployment benefits was to expire and I don't know if Congress extended it or not. If Congress didn't extend it then a lot of people dropped off the rolls in the last quarter.

[Lee'sGhost]

From the LA Times:

Although the jobless rate in June fell from 9.7% in May, that reflected a big drop of 652,000 people in the labor force over the month. The labor force is made up of workers and those actively looking for jobs. With the economic recovery weakening and many employers reluctant to hire, many more unemployed people may have quit looking for work, which would push down the jobless rate.

In fact, the percentage of the overall working-age population that is in the labor force fell last month to 64.7% — near a 25-year low.