Unemployment Rate Calculation
The unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the number of unemployed by the civilian labor force.
Unemployment Rate = 13.550 million / 160.838 million = 8.42%
Note that the reported headline jobs number today (+1.4 million) has nothing to do with anything. That is the establishment report number.
The number of employed (+3.756 million) does play into the calculation, but indirectly, as the labor force denominator.
Labor Force vs Employment
Note that employment rose by 3.756 million but the Labor Force only rose by 968,000. The impact of this discrepancy actually boosts the unemployment rate, but only by a tiny amount.
It’s the numerator that matters. The numerator should match continuing claims. It doesn’t…
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