As most people know, the unemployment rate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not accurately reflect the civilian workforce. Economics 101 teaches that the basic concepts involved in identifying the employed and unemployed are:
• People with jobs are employed.
• People who are jobless, looking for a job, and available for work are unemployed.
• The labor force is made up of the employed and the unemployed.
• People who are neither employed nor unemployed are not in the labor force.
The sum of the employed and the unemployed constitutes the civilian labor force. The remainder—those who have no job and are not looking for one (regardless of the reason, for instance if job opportunities were stronger)—are counted as not in the labor force. This is the pool of “missing workers” workers who, because of weak job opportunities are “…neither employed nor actively seeking a job”. As a result, they are not reflected in the unemployment rate.
The NC Budget & Tax Center produces an estimate of the missing workers in North Carolina after the BLS releases its data In order to provide a better measure of how the economy is faring. Currently, according to the NC Budget & Tax Center, there are 289,180 workers missing from the labor for who would be looking for work if the job opportunities were stronger. This more accurately puts the NC unemployment rate at 12.5% if these workers were included in the calculation.
Laid off workers can only get a maximum of 14 weeks in unemployment benefits as of July 1. No other state provides fewer weeks of unemployment insurance for laid off workers.
Source:
Fitzsimon, C., (2014) Monday numbers. Retrieved December 15, 2014 from: http://www.ncpolicywatch.com/...
N.C. Budget & Tax Center. Missing Workers In North Carolina (n.d) Retrieved December 15, 2014, from: http://www.ncjustice.org/...
NC Justice Center. BTC Report: What’s the harm? Plenty. Unemployment Insurance Changes Threaten the State’s Economy and Hurt the Unemployed. Retrieved
December 15, 2014 from: http://www.ncjustice.org/...