Each time I do a blog post on Nevada unemployment levels, I receive a few calls or emails to discuss how ‘accurate’ these reports are. Personally, I have been know to question them in the past…but really, I don’t know.
So, I did a little bit of research. Here is the response from DETR:
The insured unemployed, or those collecting benefits is only a portion of total unemployed and is NOT the only factor in calculating the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate is estimated based on three primary inputs, unemployment insurance statistics (people receiving unemployment), Current Employment Statistics (CES) and the Current Population Survey or CPS (or household survey).
The unemployment rate is based on people who are employed or actually looking for work. If you have given up looking for work, you are not counted as a labor force participant and will not be counted as unemployed. These folks are considered discouraged workers. The number of discouraged workers are estimated at the national level, but not at the state level. In February the national unemployment rate seasonally adjusted was 8.1. The unemployment rate plus discouraged workers was 8.5.
During my research I found a funny graph that I would be remissed if I did not share. This is way too funny:
(Thanks to Mint.com):
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