Friday, April 19, 2024

What Is The Current National Unemployment Rate

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New Hampshire Unemployment Rate

National Unemployment Rate Concerns | Current Unemployment Rate Issues

New Hampshire has a long history as a manufacturing state, specifically with the production of paper and grain. As the use of mills began to decline over the 20th century, the Granite State turned to more traditional manufacturing. Although modern manufacturing has become far more high-tech, it still remains the biggest sector of New Hampshire’s economy.

  • Unemployment Historic High/Low:
  • Historic High: 17.1
  • Historic Low: 2.2

Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment Rate Chart 1948

Current US Unemployment Rate Chart

Unemployment remains below all the previous peaks of 1949, 1954, 1958, 1961, 1971, 1975, 1982, 1992, 2003, and 2009. This means that unemployment is back below the extraordinarily bad and has entered normal territory i.e. it is no longer in the red zone and is now in the yellow zone in the chart above.

Prior to the COVID-19 spike, February 2020s 3.5% Seasonally Adjusted U-3 unemployment levels were extraordinarily good i.e. just a hair above the 1969 lows of 3.4%. The only break below 3.4% was all the way back in 1953 . The COVID worldwide spike took unemployment to unprecedented levels but unemployment is back within the normal range which is still not fantastic but is improving.

Labor Force Participation Rate

The LFPR can have a major impact on the actual level of unemployment.

Tom Thomas, one of our readers reminds us that if you want to compare U-3 numbers you have to do it in light of the Labor Force Participation Rate . He said, since U-3 only measures those who are actively looking for a job if the labor force declines the U-3 rate will appear better than it actually is. So, in order to compare two time periods, you have to adjust for the LFPR.

For more information see Labor Force Participation Rate.

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The Household Survey Is A Snapshot In Time

The Census Bureaus household unemployment survey is a monthly snapshot in time, not a continuous reading of labor market conditions.

Because it typically occurs during the week including the 12th of the month, it may not accurately reflect conditions during the opening or closing days of the month.

That isnt a fatal flaw in normal times, but it can result in misleading data in more extraordinary periods.

For example, the official unemployment rate for March 2020 vastly underestimated the scale of job losses due to widespread closures of nonessential businesses during the second half of that month as the coronavirus pandemic set in.

The Household Survey Isnt Guaranteed To Be Accurate

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The CPS employs sophisticated statistical tools to achieve a representative snapshot of national labor market conditions using a relatively small sample size.

But these tools are no substitute for a comprehensive census of more than 100 million U.S. households, which would be prohibitively expensive and labor-intensive to run each month.

Overrepresentation or underrepresentation of particular demographic groups or geographical regions, as well as worker misclassification, can skew the results.

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How Is The Unemployment Rate Calculated

The federal government uses a reasonably straightforward methodology to measure the number of working-age people who qualify as unemployed each month.

While this methodology has inherent flaws and fails to capture the full extent of unemployment, it establishes an important baseline for the publics understanding of the labor market.

The Current Population Survey

The process begins with a household survey known as the Current Population Survey .

Each month, usually during the week that includes the months 12th day, interviewers from the Census Bureau call or visit 60,000 households containing about 110,000 individuals on average.

The interviewers ask detailed questions about each household members labor force participation, including whether theyre currently employed, actively seeking work, not actively seeking work, unable to work, or currently engaged in military service that precludes civilian employment. The list of questions is very detailed.

The CPSs definitions of employed,unemployed, and labor force participation are clear-cut:

  • Employed: A respondent who works full time or part time, even if their labor force activity is gig work or self-employment.
  • Unemployed: A respondent who doesnt have a job but has been looking for one for four weeks and is available if hired.
  • Labor Force Nonparticipant: A respondent who doesnt have a job and isnt actively looking for one. A labor force nonparticipant reenters the labor force when they begin actively seeking employment.

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Calculating The Us Unemployment Rate

The Census Bureau then uses the results of the CPS to calculate the official U.S. unemployment rate for the survey month.

In simple terms, you calculate the unemployment rate by dividing the number of individuals actively seeking employment by the number of individuals who have jobs plus the unemployed.

The sum of the employed plus unemployed is the total number of labor force participants. You dont include labor force nonparticipants in the calculation.

In mathematical terms, the formula is as follows:

Total number of unemployed / = unemployment rate

Heres an example. The BLS conducts a survey of 60,000 households that yields 110,000 respondents. In their survey, they find the following results:

  • Of those respondents, 60,000 have jobs. They either work for an employer or operate their own business.
  • Another 10,000 say theyre looking for work.
  • The remaining 40,000 are not considered part of the labor force. They may be going back to school, disabled and unable to work, or perhaps have given up looking for work because the economy is so bad. Whats most surprising is that the government completely ignores the existence of this last group when calculating the unemployment rate.

According to the gathered data, the unemployment rate in this case is 14.3%. You calculate it as follows:

10,000/ = 14.3%

To estimate the actual number of American workers who qualify as unemployed during the survey period, they scale the result up in proportion to the total U.S. population.

What Does Bureau Of Labor Statistics Mean

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Definition What does Bureau of Labor Statistics mean? The Bureau of Labor Statistics is a government agency that is a unit of the United States Department of Labor. It collects, processes, analyzes, compiles, and produces a wide range of statistical data that reflects the state of the U.S. economy at a given moment.

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New Mexico Unemployment Rate

Although New Mexico is no longer thought of as a mining state, the oil and gas industry still pulls in more than $2 billion each year. However, mining only represents a small portion of the workforce, with the government sector actually employing more than the private sector. The federal government has a number of installations in the Land of Enchantment, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory and three Air Force bases.

  • Unemployment Historic High/Low:
  • Historic High: 12.7
  • Historic Low: 3.7

Local Area Unemployment Statistics

This monthly program provides labor force, resident employment and unemployment estimates, and unemployment rates for state and sub-state areas based on information obtained from a household survey known as the Current Population Survey . While the national unemployment rate is derived directly from data collected through this survey, sample sizes in each state are too small to provide reliable monthly estimates for the states directly. Therefore, all states including Rhode Island calculate their unemployment rates using statistical models developed by BLS. The models incorporate the number of jobs at businesses and current Unemployment Insurance claims data to refine the individual state estimates provided by the CPS survey.

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District Of Columbia Unemployment Rate

Although technically a city, the BLS still records a state unemployment rate for the District of Columbia. While it may come as little surprise that the U.S. capital’s workforce is heavily represented in its government sector, the professional and business services industry has actually been the largest and fastest growing sector from 2019 to 2020. It also has the highest state population density in the country.

  • Unemployment Historic High/Low:
  • Historic High: 11.7
  • Historic Low: 4.8

A0: Summary Of Employment Unemployment And Economic Inactivity For People Below State Pension Age

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Labour market summary for people below state pension age. Estimates in this table follow the incremental increase in the female state pension age each quarter. These estimates are not the headline labour force survey estimates – they are shown at Tables A02 SA and A02 NSA. This table is updated four times a year in February, May, August and November. These estimates are sourced from the Labour Force Survey, a survey of households.

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Nominal Gdp Sector Composition

Nominal GDP sector composition, 2015 at 2005 constant prices

No.

There were approximately 160.4 million people in the U.S. labor force in 2017, the fourth largest labor force in the world behind China, India, and the European Union.The government employed 22 million in 2010. Small businesses are the nation’s largest employer, representing 37% of American workers. The second-largest share of employment belongs to large businesses employing 36% of the U.S. workforce.

The nation’s private sector employs 85% of working Americans. Government accounts for 14% of all U.S. workers. Over 99% of all private employing organizations in the U.S. are small businesses. The 30 million small businesses in the U.S. account for 64% of newly created jobs . Jobs in small businesses accounted for 70% of those created in the last decade.

The proportion of Americans employed by small business versus large business has remained relatively the same year by year as some small businesses become large businesses and just over half of small businesses survive for more than five years. Amongst large businesses, several of the largest companies and employers in the world are American companies. Amongst them are Walmart, which is both the largest company and the largest private sector employer in the world. Walmart employs 2.1 million people worldwide and 1.4 million in the U.S. alone.

North Carolina Unemployment Rate

Formerly an agricultural state, North Carolina’s economy was heavily industrialized after the Civil War. Much of this remains the case today. N.C.’s famous furniture manufacturers and High Point Market trade show make it still the “Furniture Capital of the World,” and its aerospace industry is built upon the legacy of the Wright brothers. N.C. also features the third largest financial center in the U.S. and the second-fastest growing IT sector in the country.

  • Unemployment Historic High/Low:
  • Historic High: 12.9
  • Historic Low: 3

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Energy Transportation And Telecommunications

Road

The U.S. economy is heavily dependent on road transport for moving people and goods. Personal transportation is dominated by automobiles, which operate on a network of four million miles of public roads, including one of the world’s longest highway systems at 57,000 miles . The world’s second-largest automobile market, the United States has the highest rate of per-capita vehicle ownership in the world, with 765 vehicles per 1,000 Americans. About 40% of personal vehicles are vans, SUVs, or light trucks.

Rail

Mass transit accounts for 9% of total U.S. work trips.Transport of goods by rail is extensive, though relatively low numbers of passengers use intercity rail to travel, partially due to the low population density throughout much of the nation. However, ridership on Amtrak, the national intercity passenger rail system, grew by almost 37% between 2000 and 2010. Also, light rail development has increased in recent years. The state of California is currently constructing the nation’s first high-speed rail system.

Airline

The civil airline industry is entirely privately owned and has been largely deregulated since 1978, while most major airports are publicly owned. The three largest airlines in the world by passengers carried are U.S.-based American Airlines is number one after its 2013 acquisition by U.S. Airways. Of the world’s thirty busiest passenger airports, twelve are in the United States, including the busiest, HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport.

What Is The Unemployment Rate Formula

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The term unemployment rate refers to the proportion of the labor force, which was actively seeking employment but has been unemployed for the last four weeks. Most of the countries published the unemployment data every month as it is a good indicator to assess the direction of an economy. The formula for the unemployment rate is very simple, and it can be derived by dividing the number of unemployed persons available for employment by the total number of employed and unemployed persons in the nation. Mathematically, it is represented as,

Unemployment Rate = No. of Unemployed Persons /

Now, as per the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a person can be defined to be employed only if he/ she:

  • Is more than 16 years of age
  • Works either for an employer or is self-employed
  • Does not work as a volunteer
  • Is not engaged in any kind of self-service

On the other hand, a person is identified to be unemployed only if he/ she:

  • Is more than 16 years of age
  • Is not engaged in any kind of employment
  • I was actively seeking a job during the last four weeks

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Why Is Californias Jobless Rate Bouncing Back More Slowly

Even pre-pandemic, Californias overall unemployment rate was usually slightly above the national rate. But the fact that so many Californians work in the leisure and hospitality industries which saw massive layoffs in the beginning of the pandemic contributes to the states lagging employment recovery now. Leila Bengali, an economist at UCLAs Anderson School of Management, pointed out Californias leisure and hospitality sectors employed almost 18% fewer people in September 2021 than pre-pandemic, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Nationwide, the industry was just 9% smaller in September than it was pre-pandemic.

One explanation for the gap between the rate at which Californias leisure and hospitality industry has recovered jobs and the rate at which the industry has recovered jobs nationally, Bengali said, is that international tourism, a large part of the states economy, was particularly hard hit during the pandemic. Visitors buy lunches at cafes and stay in hotels when travel dried up, those businesses bore the brunt.

Its not a coincidence that two states that are heavily reliant on tourism and entertainment have not done as well, given the demise of tourism and entertainment under COVID, said Manuel Pastor, a professor of sociology and American Studies and Ethnicity at the University of Southern California.

But Arent Employers Struggling To Fill Jobs

Yes. Walk down any commercial strip in a California city and theres a decent chance youll see a Now Hiring sign in a restaurant or shop window. Employers have been offering cash bonuses and beefed-up benefits to fill empty positions.

Californias unemployment situation certainly isnt a question of a lack of job opportunity thats not whats going on, said Chris Thornberg, founding partner of Beacon Economics, an economic research and consulting firm. There are an insane number of job opportunities in our state and in the nation overall. People may just be taking their time to find a good job, he said.

There are also some indications that lower-income families arent experiencing economic stress, said Thornberg. For example, the share of Californian consumers with new bankruptcies is lower than it was pre-pandemic.

A lot of the job openings also require in-person, physical work with unpredictable hours like serving in a restaurant, or packing goods in a warehouse. Some people arent willing or able to do that work.

Parry is worried about working in person while the pandemic is ongoing. I keep seeing signs in restaurants and stuff like that, it really makes me feel bad because I need work, she said. She worked at Cost Plus over the holidays once in the past, and it made her legs hurt. I am 71 years old, she said. I mean, the last thing I want is a job where I stand all day because it kills the legs and the back.

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Currency And Central Bank

The United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is the currency most used in international transactions. Several countries use it as their official currency, and in many others it is the de facto currency.

The federal government attempts to use both monetary policy and fiscal policy to maintain low inflation, high economic growth, and low unemployment. A private central bank, known as the Federal Reserve, was formed in 1913 to provide a stable currency and monetary policy. The U.S. dollar has been regarded as one of the more stable currencies in the world and many nations back their own currency with U.S. dollar reserves.

The U.S. dollar has maintained its position as the world’s primary reserve currency, although it is gradually being challenged in that role. Almost two thirds of currency reserves held around the world are held in U.S. dollars, compared to around 25% for the next most popular currency, the euro. Rising U.S. national debt and quantitative easing has caused some to predict that the U.S. dollar will lose its status as the world’s reserve currency however, these predictions have not come to fruition.

In 2019, the United States was ranked 23rd on the Transparency InternationalCorruption Perceptions Index with a score of 69 out of 100.This is a decrease from its score in 2018 which was 71 out of 100.

Examples Of Unemployment Rate Formula

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Lets take an example to understand the calculation of the Unemployment Rate in a better manner.

Unemployment Rate Formula Example #1

Let us take the example of the residents of the US to explain the concept of the unemployment rate. In the year 2018, around 155,761 thousand US residents were employed, while around 6,314 thousand were unemployed. Calculate the unemployment rate in the US for the year 2018 based on the given information.

Solution:

The unemployment Rate is calculated using the formula given below

Unemployment Rate = No. of Unemployed Persons /

  • Unemployment Rate = 6,314 /
  • Unemployment Rate = 3.9%

Therefore, the unemployment rate in the US during the year 2018 stood at 3.9%.

Unemployment Rate Formula Example #2

Let us an example of a country to understand the other intricacies of the unemployment rate. Let us assume that the information pertaining to the employment status of the country is available as on December 31, 20XX.

Based on the given information, calculate the unemployment rate of the country as of December 31, 20XX.

Solution:

No. of Unemployed Persons is calculated using the formula given below

No. of Unemployed Persons = Non-Institutionalized Civilian Population Volunteers Discouraged Workers Not Actively Seeking Jobs During Last 4 Weeks No of Employed Persons

  • No. of Unemployed Persons = 1,500,000 50,000 170,000 40,000 1,150,000
  • No. of Unemployed Persons = 90,000

Solution:

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