Well that's my question and what I'm looking for info on. How do they get the numbers, off polls, off IRS reports, off what? Like if I fill out some paperwork and check "unemployed" and there's no further question about if I'm looking for work or just a housewife or stay-at-home-mom or w/e, I would think that falls on the "Unemployed" count wouldn't it? I'm just wondering how they do the stats thing for unemployment numbers because it's something I've never actually looked into.
Based on the Decennial Census, the country is divided into Primary Statistical Units. Each PSU is roughly county-sized and entirety in one state. Similar PSUs within a state are grouped together for random selection while bigger or unique PSUs are always selected, the process continues down to a list of addresses. 60,000 houses (including dorms and fraternity/sorority houses, excluding military housing, prisons, nursing homes) are surveyed every month. Each house is in the survey 4 months, then out for 8 months, then back in for 4. A quarter of the sample rotates every month.
Responses are collected for everyone in the house age 15 and older for the week that contains the 12th....the reference week. If someone owned a business/farm, or worked at least one hour for pay, or was temporarily absent from a job due to vacation/weather/strike or worked 15 or more hours unpaid in a family business /farm, they are employed.
Those not employed are asked what they did to find a job in the last 4 weeks. If they did anything at all that could have resulted in a job and they could have started work in the reference week, they are unemployed. Every one else is "not in the labor force.