You hear a lot of talk about how the unemployment numbers are artificially low because so many people have "given up looking" for work and are thus "dropped from the unemployment rolls". What does this refer to? I know there are two ways the government measures unemployment, one being a massive household survey--but I get the sense the "dropped from the rolls" thing refers to the other measurement.
So...is it assumed that when people are looking for work, they go register at one of those official county or state agencies, is that it? Because I have never even entered one of those places. When I've looked for a job, I've generally done it by looking in the classifieds and going to fill out applications. Is that really so unusual? (And what about online sites like Monster.com?)
Are the vast majority of job seekers really dutifully registering with the government on a monthly basis, until they reach that aforementioned point when they decide they are "too discouraged" to keep looking? If so, did I miss some kind of national training session where they teach everyone where to go and what to do when unemployed? Because I wouldn't even know how to register as unemployed, and frankly I don't believe most other people--of my generation, anyway--do either.