CABL Forum - Re: Dept. of Labor & IRS to investigate...

Well I did think about my statement...

I looked into how the unemployement rate is deterimed. Its not from how many people file for unemployement its done by this method:

The Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population
Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country. The CPS has been
conducted in the United States every month since 1940, when it began as a Work Projects
Administration project. It has been expanded and modified several times since then. For
instance, beginning in 1994, the CPS estimates reflect the results of a major redesign of
the survey. (For more information on the CPS redesign, see Chapter 1, “Labor Force
Data Derived from the Current Population Survey,” in the BLS Handbook of Methods.)
There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey. This translates into
approximately 110,000 individuals, a large sample compared to public opinion surveys
which usually cover fewer than 2,000 people. The CPS sample is selected so as to be
representative of the entire population of the United States. In order to select the sample,
all of the counties and county-equivalent cities in the country first are grouped into 2,025
geographic areas (sampling units). The Census Bureau then designs and selects a sample
consisting of 824 of these geographic areas to represent each State and the District of
Columbia. The sample is a State-based design and reflects urban and rural areas,
different types of industrial and farming areas, and the major geographic divisions of
each State. (For a detailed explanation of CPS sampling methodology, see Chapter 1, of
the BLS Handbook of Methods.)
Every month, one-fourth of the households in the sample are changed, so that no
household is interviewed more than 4 consecutive months. This practice avoids placing
too heavy a burden on the households selected for the sample. After a household is
interviewed for 4 consecutive months, it leaves the sample for 8 months, and then is
again interviewed for the same 4 calendar months a year later, before leaving the sample
for good. This procedure results in approximately 75 percent of the sample remaining the
same from month to month and 50 percent from year to year.
Each month, 2,200 highly trained and experienced Census Bureau employees interview
persons in the 60,000 sample households for information on the labor force activities
(jobholding and jobseeking) or non-labor force status of the members of these households
during the survey reference week (usually the week that includes the 12th of the month).
At the time of the first enumeration of a household, the interviewer prepares a roster of
the household members, including their personal characteristics (date of birth, sex, race,
Hispanic ethnicity, marital status, educational attainment, veteran status, and so on) and
their relationships to the person maintaining the household. This information, relating to
all household members 15 years of age and over, is entered by the interviewers into
laptop computers; at the end of each day's interviewing, the data collected are transmitted
to the Census Bureau's central computer in Washington, D.C. (The labor force measures
3
in the CPS pertain to individuals 16 years and over.) In addition, a portion of the sample
is interviewed by phone through three central data collection facilities. (Prior to 1994,
the interviews were conducted using a paper questionnaire that had to be mailed in by the
interviewers each month.)
Each person is classified according to the activities he or she engaged in during the
reference week. Then, the total numbers are "weighted," or adjusted to independent
population estimates (based on updated decennial census results). The weighting takes
into account the age, sex, race, Hispanic ethnicity, and State of residence of the person, so
that these characteristics are reflected in the proper proportions in the final estimates.
A sample is not a total count, and the survey may not produce the same results that would
be obtained from interviewing the entire population. But the chances are 90 out of 100
that the monthly estimate of unemployment from the sample is within about 290,000 of
the figure obtainable from a total census. Since monthly unemployment totals have
ranged between about 7 and 11 million in recent years, the possible error resulting from
sampling is not large enough to distort the total unemployment picture.
Because these interviews are the basic source of data for total unemployment,
information must be factual and correct. Respondents are never asked specifically if they
are unemployed, nor are they given an opportunity to decide their own labor force status.
Unless they already know how the Government defines unemployment, many of them
may not be sure of their actual classification when the interview is completed.
Similarly, interviewers do not decide the respondents' labor force classification. They
simply ask the questions in the prescribed way and record the answers. Based on
information collected in the survey and definitions programmed into the computer,
individuals are then classified as employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force.
All interviews must follow the same procedures to obtain comparable results. Because of
the crucial role interviewers have in the household survey, a great amount of time and
effort is spent maintaining the quality of their work. Interviewers are given intensive
training, including classroom lectures, discussion, practice, observation, home-study
materials, and on-the-job training. At least once a year, they attend day-long training and
review sessions. Also, at least once a year, they are accompanied by a supervisor during
a full day of interviewing to determine how well they carry out their assignments.
A selected number of households are reinterviewed each month to determine whether the
information obtained in the first interview was correct. The information gained from
these reinterviews is used to improve the entire training program.
What are the basic concepts of employment and unemployment?
The basic concepts involved in identifying the employed and unemployed are quite
simple:
People with jobs are employed.
4
People who are jobless, looking for jobs, and available for work are unemployed.
People who are neither employed nor unemployed are not in the labor force.
The survey is designed so that each person age 16 and over who is neither in an
institution (for example, correctional facilities and residential nursing and mental health
care facilities) nor on active duty in the Armed Forces is counted and classified in only
one group. The sum of the employed and the unemployed constitutes the civilian labor
force. Persons not in the labor force combined with those in the civilian labor force
constitute the civilian noninstitutional population 16 years and over. (There is no upper
age limit.) Under these concepts, most people are quite easily classified. For example:
Elizabeth Lloyd reported to the interviewer that last week she worked 40 hours as
a sales manager for the Western Beverage Company. Elizabeth is employed.
Steve Hogan lost his job when the local plant of the Chariot Aircraft
Manufacturing Company was closed down. Since then, he has been visiting
personnel offices of other businesses in town trying to find a job. Steve is
unemployed.
Linda Coleman is a homemaker. Last week, she was occupied with her normal
household chores. She neither held a job nor looked for a job. Her 80-year-old
father who lives with her has not worked or looked for work because of a
disability. Linda and her father are not in the labor force.
Who is counted as employed?

Not all of the wide range of job situations in the American economy fit neatly into a
given category. For example, people are considered employed if they did any work at all
for pay or profit during the survey week. This includes all part-time and temporary work,
as well as regular full-time, year-round employment. Persons also are counted as
employed if they have a job at which they did not work during the survey week, whether
they were paid or not, because they were:

There you have it.....

So I bet if all cable installers were employeess these numbers would reflect in these reports.

:)

INSTALLATION

CONSTRUCTION / TECH

OFFICE / OTHER

Re: Dept. of Labor & IRS to investigate...