Unemployment Numbers for November Not all They’re Cracked up to be

The Bureau of Labor Statistics produces a monthly household survey, which helps to determine the jobless rate for the country. Their survey revealed that the country’s jobless rate fell to 8.6 percent from 9.0 percent in the month of October. Experts view the improvement in the jobless rate as a good sign that employment could pick-up immensely over the coming months. The Bureau statisticians claim that a change of 0.19 percent point in the unemployment rate for a significant change to be assumed. The rate changed by 0.4 percent, which has experts believing that a significant change is taking place because October to November is the first time this requirement was met in 2011.

Before anyone reading this gets too excited about the employment situation in the country, be sure you take into consideration the following points about employment and the economy, based on information provided by international.to:

For people who wanted to work full-time or were laid off from a full-time job in November, the jobless rate sits at 9.2 percent.

From October to November, the average length of unemployment went from 39.4 weeks to 40.9 weeks.

There were 278,000 people added to the workforce in November, with 88,000 of them self-employed in unincorporated companies.

In November, the number of people unemployed fell by 594,000 while the number of people not in the workforce rose by 487,000.

For workers between the ages of 25 and 34, the jobless rate was at 9.2 percent for both women and men in the month of November. For those between the ages of 20 and 24, the jobless rate hit 12.6 percent for women and 15.6 percent for men.

When November hit, the estimated 5.9 million people who had jobs in October were either out of the workforce or unemployed.

In the month of November, there were 6.6 million people out of the workforce who claim they want a job. This number has increased from the 6.4 million people in October who want a job and the 6.2 million people one year ago. Of the 6.6 million people mentioned, if one-third of them were listed as unemployed, the jobless rate in the country would be at a staggering 9.9 percent. If half of that number were counted as unemployed, the United States jobless rate would hit 10.6 percent.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics has performed with remarkable accuracy for more than 70 years when it comes to estimating unemployment and employment statistics. The times have changed though, with Americans being surveyed almost every day of the week for various things. Those things include what they watch on television, what they listen to on the radio, what they buy, and who they prefer at the polls. Some of the recent unemployment surveys released might not be highly accurate, as some Americans are weary of giving answers out to questioners, because they do not like having their lives pried into by others.