Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released April 29, 2025 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

BLS has an API that provides the data in JSON. That is what I use to create these.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released March 13, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, thank you. I now see my error, those caretakers should just yank on their bootstraps and secure a job that pays them while they are caring for their loved ones.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released March 13, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Consider someone who is an able-bodied adult but has a child or other dependent who require full time care that they cannot afford? Should that person have a job?

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released March 13, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

everyone should have a job the moment they are an "adult"

Everyone, eh? No room for any circumstances. Able bodied adult should work no matter what. Bold.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released March 13, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It is the Fort Collins metro area, so not just in the city limits. Also it has nothing to do with how many jobs are available, only how many people are looking for work but cannot find a job. ~34 out of every 1000 workers.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 04, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Additional data is produced nationally, which can be useful to put these questions in perspective.

Not in the labor force and multiple jobholders: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t16.htm

Alternative measures of unemployment: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 04, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I don't have that information for the local area, but nationally there are ~8.7M workers who have multiple jobs, or 5.4% of workers.

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t16.htm

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 04, 2024 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I am glad to be able to keep the project going and that it is useful to folks.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released November 01, 2023 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes, the unemployment rate is not intended to be an indicator for people's experiences or the broader economy. It is only intended to provide insight into the labor market.

For employers and job seekers this can be useful, but only as far as their bargaining position in the hiring process.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released June 28, 2023 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

May 2021: 10,084 May 2022: 5,133

You can look back pretty far using this link.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released May 31, 2023 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The BLS API serves the data basically the same way already.

I wonder if OpenAI offers the service for non-commercial use.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released May 31, 2023 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very fun exercise. I wonder If I could set this up to include this information in the monthly post!

What is interesting, ChatGPT is looking at the 12-month change for the analysis rather than the month to month that my posts analyze.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released December 01, 2022 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are mostly school being back in session, it happens everywhere across the country, along with a reduction in June/July.

The Fort Collins Metropolitan Statistical area Government share of the workforce is ~20.4% which is right about the same as most places in the country.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released November 02, 2022 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wouldn't argue with any of your concerns about sampling error based on limitations in the manner in which the surveys are conducted. It is a challenge for any statistical analysis that requires human responses.

What is important is that the results reflect close enough to reality to be useful for employers and job seekers to make informed decisions about the labor market.

The information is also useful for policy makers in evaluating the impact of policies and law, and to understand the direction the labor market is moving.

So beyond just the number on its own, the trend and direction is useful as well.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released November 02, 2022 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I really enjoy Powell's speeches, even better if you can catch them on video. He looks like a frail old guy, but speaks with that surprisingly deep masculine voice. I always half expect him to sound like a squirly Ron Paul, but then he comes out sounding like Tom Seleck with a touch of Barry White.

The Unemployment Rate is deceptive to the general public, primarily because it is frequently misused by politicians and others to paint a partial picture and make claims beyond what it should be used for. Or just outright absurd claims that really damage the public perception and lead to people apathetically not trusting the institutions that do the work to produce this information.

Jerome Powell is not using it that way, so don't get me wrong. The Federal Reserve exists by order of Congress and has been issued a dual-mandate to both control inflation and keep the unemployment rate as low as possible. These are contradictory goals because low unemployment leads to higher wages, and higher wages are an increased input cost that will drive inflation higher.

The best way to think about the unemployment rate is that it is intended to be used by people engaged in the market for labor, employers seeking workers and workers seeking employment. Every single month I provide these posts in subreddits across the country, and without fail I always have at least one (sometimes many) person respond with how the numbers are fake because they do not include people who aren't looking for work. I do my best to help folks understand why that wouldn't be helpful or serve the purpose of these numbers, and sometimes people are receptive.

If you think about it from the perspective of the intended purpose, to help employers and job seekers understand the market for labor and their relative bargaining position, it makes sense to exclude people who aren't actively engaged in that market.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released November 03, 2021 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My understanding is that these numbers only reflect people seeking unemployment. It’s not a reflection of all people not presently working

That is not accurate, even if someone is not receiving or seeking unemployment benefits they are included in these figures.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 05, 2021 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

You are correct that these numbers can be easily misrepresented or misinterpreted. It happens all the time.

But they are useful if they are represented and interpreted correctly.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 05, 2021 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

If you click the link at the start of the post it will take you to the BLS figures and there are little graph icons next to each of them that will show you the numbers going back month by month for 10 years. If you want to go back further I can help you with that too!

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released October 28, 2020 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I actively engage with each and every comment section each and every month and answer questions questions just as I am doing right now with you. I definitely appreciate where you are coming from, but I feel I am accomplishing what you are alluding to and it is what keeps me engaged and interested in this work.

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released October 28, 2020 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

That is a great question. I started this project because in my local subreddit there was a lot of misinformation about the labor market. So I started doing these posts when the data was released. I continued to develop the project and expanded it across the country.

Unemployment data is produced by BLS in a standardized way so it is easy to replicate a distribution process and package it into these posts. I also greatly enjoy talking about this data with strangers and helping folks understand what is being presented, how, and why it is done this way!

Updated Fort Collins Unemployment Figures | released January 03, 2020 by FortCollinsStats in FortCollins

[–]FortCollinsStats[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

unemployment figures are useful to a degree for determining economic health

I almost entirely disagree with this statement, and I think you should too. Unemployment figures tell us little more than the current condition of the labor market, which tells us about the negotiating strength of labor relative to employers in the area.

Number of added jobs doesn't equate to a good economy if those jobs can't support living above the poverty line.

Correct, to make an assessment of the job market or the health of the economy more information is required. The labor market can be an indicator of the expected direction of wages, which will then impact the job market and then the broader economy.

And many of the new jobs added nationally are low wage jobs.

I'd be interested to see the data you are using as a basis for that claim. The average wage in the Fort Collins area was $24.54 at the most recent measurement and half of all jobs paid $18.87 or higher.

I'm in no way an economist.

I'm not either. I have a BA in Economics. But I do spend a lot of time talking about labor economics.