[RD5050]

Originally Posted by texan2yankee

I wonder if the drop in unemployment is a result of Congress not extending the longterm unemployment benefits. Those who exhausted their benefits would be dropped out of the workforce, statistically speaking, resulting in a reduce unemployment rate.

Your answer:

http://www.bls.gov/cps/faq.htm

What do the unemployment insurance (UI) figures measure?


These data are not used to measure total unemployment because they exclude several important groups. To begin with, not all workers are covered by UI programs. For example, self-employed workers, unpaid family workers, workers in certain not-for-profit organizations, and several other small (primarily seasonal) worker categories are not covered. In addition, the insured unemployed exclude the following:

• Unemployed workers who have exhausted their benefits
• Unemployed workers who have not yet earned benefit rights (such as new entrants or reentrants to the labor force)
• Disqualified workers whose unemployment is considered to have resulted from their own actions rather than from economic conditions; for example, a worker discharged for misconduct on the job
• Otherwise eligible unemployed persons who do not file for benefits