Question: which figures are reported more prominently by the BLS?
I am asking because my country's equivalent tends to report unemployment figures, based upon a similar definition to the US, more prominently. This is especially true if a casual seeker is unfamiliar with the terminology used while reporting these figures.
Incidentally, it is also worth noting that one does not have to believe that the numbers are cooked up to believe that they are misleading. Having a consistent definition is important when comparing figures, unfortunately having a consistent definition also means that the reported numbers may not reflect societal expectations over time (e.g. regarding retirement or multiple income households).
BLS calls U-3 the "official unemployment rate" I guess, but they publish it in a table with 5 other measures that count different things. I'm not entirely sure it's fair to blame them for the fact that most people just focus on that one measurement.
The fault is with the US newsmedia, which very consistently always talks ONLY about the U-3 number, and in my years, has never acknowledged that their are other numbers worth discussing.
The BLS statistics are pretty much like the food labels: They'll slap a huge "0% fat" sticker on the front of the package to appease the public conscience. But you need to carefully read the fine-print on the back to find out what's that you're consuming.
>They'll slap a huge "0% fat" sticker on the front of the package to appease the public conscience. But you need to carefully read the fine-print on the back to find out what's that you're consuming.
...as opposed to what? being "honest" by slapping a "contains scary sounding chemicals" sticker on the front of the package? how can a manufacturer possibly know what people would hate, considering that people can hate literally any ingredient?
> being "honest" by slapping a "contains scary sounding chemicals" sticker
You don't even have to go to "scary chemicals" and conspiracy theories. Have you ever checked how many "0% fat" foods are heavy on refined carbs, and vice-versa?
> how can a manufacturer possibly know what people would hate, considering that people can hate literally any ingredient?
Have you ever heard about market research? The promoted cherry-picked facts are not there because people are unpredictable and the manufacturers are clueless, but because people are predictable and the manufacturers have researched their behaviour.
I am asking because my country's equivalent tends to report unemployment figures, based upon a similar definition to the US, more prominently. This is especially true if a casual seeker is unfamiliar with the terminology used while reporting these figures.
Incidentally, it is also worth noting that one does not have to believe that the numbers are cooked up to believe that they are misleading. Having a consistent definition is important when comparing figures, unfortunately having a consistent definition also means that the reported numbers may not reflect societal expectations over time (e.g. regarding retirement or multiple income households).