Why aren't people who are unemployed but not looking for work included in NYS Department of Labor unemployment figures?
I've been trying to understand how the NYS Department of Labor calculates unemployment rates and I'm confused about something. My neighbor lost his job 6 months ago but stopped filing weekly claims because he decided to take a break from working to deal with some family issues. He's definitely unemployed but apparently doesn't count in the official unemployment statistics? This seems weird to me - if you don't have a job, shouldn't you be counted as unemployed regardless of whether you're actively job searching? Can someone explain how this works?
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Hugh Intensity
The unemployment rate only counts people who are actively seeking work. Your neighbor would be classified as 'not in the labor force' rather than unemployed. To be counted in NYS Department of Labor unemployment statistics, you need to be both without a job AND actively looking for work within the past 4 weeks. This includes filing for UI benefits, submitting job applications, or participating in job search activities. The logic is that unemployment measures people who want to work but can't find jobs, not people who have chosen not to work temporarily.
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Sunny Wang
•That makes more sense now. So even if he wanted to go back to filing weekly claims later, he'd need to show he's actively job searching to be counted in the unemployment rate?
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Effie Alexander
yeah this is confusing but its because unemployment rate is supposed to measure people who WANT jobs but cant find them. if your not looking then your not really competing for jobs so why would you count? like if i retire early im not unemployed im just not working by choice
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Melissa Lin
•Exactly. The Bureau of Labor Statistics defines three categories: employed, unemployed but seeking work, and not in labor force. NYS Department of Labor follows these same federal guidelines when reporting our state's unemployment data.
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Lydia Santiago
This is actually a huge problem with how we measure unemployment! There are so many people who want to work but have given up looking because the job market is terrible. They call these 'discouraged workers' and they don't get counted either. The real unemployment rate is probably much higher than what NYS Department of Labor reports. It's frustrating because it makes the economy look better than it really is for regular people.
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Romeo Quest
•I had to stop my job search for 3 months when my dad got sick and I was his caretaker. Even though I desperately needed work, I couldn't actively search so I wouldn't have been counted as unemployed during that time. The system definitely has flaws.
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Val Rossi
If you're having trouble getting through to NYS Department of Labor to understand your claim status or need help with job search requirements, I found this service called Claimyr that actually gets you connected to real agents. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's a demo video at https://youtu.be/qyftW-mnTNI showing how it works. Saved me hours of trying to call on my own when I had questions about my weekly claim filing.
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Sunny Wang
•Thanks for the tip! I might need that if my neighbor decides to start filing for unemployment again.
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Eve Freeman
The technical definition makes sense from an economic policy perspective. If someone isn't actively participating in the job market, they're not affecting wage competition or labor supply. NYS Department of Labor needs to track people who are actually competing for available positions to get an accurate picture of labor market conditions.
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