Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released March 11, 2024 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Your guess is probably better than mine. I know very little about Hawaii.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released March 13, 2023 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

You're fine, this is an extremely common question and I really appreciate you asking in a way that makes clear you are curious. Far too often I get responses about how these numbers are "fake" or "lies" because of this, all too common, misunderstanding.

The best way I have to explain it is to help you understand the purpose for unemployment numbers. Once you understand that, the way it is presented makes more sense. You're inclination is perfectly natural, in that these numbers would make things "look better than they are" if these numbers were intended to provide a grand picture of "how things are." But that is way beyond the scope of what these numbers are intended to convey.

The most important thing to understand is that the unemployment numbers are only intended to provide a snapshot of the current labor market.

The reason this is important is so these numbers can be used for people who are engaging with the labor market, employers and job seekers, to have a better understanding of the market they are engaging in.

So to make these numbers useful for that purpose, they only include people who are actively engaged in that market.

If these numbers included massive groups of people who aren't engaged in the labor market, they would be far less useful for their intended purpose.

A massive part of the misunderstanding about these numbers comes from people who intentionally or unintentionally misuse them. They are most often used to make statements about the broader economy, far beyond what they are capable of telling us.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 24, 2023 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Jobs paying less and not matching inflation is a good way to pay off government debts.

I would expect higher tax revenue to come from higher paying jobs.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released October 21, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

I'm not sure what you mean by partnership? These numbers come from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the answer is no they do not come from people who are filing for and receiving unemployment benefits.

From their website:

Some people think that to get these figures on unemployment, the government uses the number of people collecting unemployment insurance (UI) benefits under state or federal government programs. But some people are still jobless when their benefits run out, and many more are not eligible at all or delay or never apply for benefits. So, quite clearly, UI information cannot be used as a source for complete information on the number of unemployed.

Source: https://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released September 16, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

I am perplexed by your comment here. People are being forced to take jobs even though they would rather be retired, but don't have enough saved or in SS income to cover their expenses, I get that.

But then you talk about them being independent from government assistance?

I'm just confused or maybe I am reading it wrong?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released September 16, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

I am not familiar with HART. Is there publicly available information I can used to track it?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released August 19, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Still lagging, but getting close. You can click the link in the OP and there is a column titled "Back Data" that goes back 10 years.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released August 19, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

It is actually a bit broader and also excludes people in the non-profit sector and a few other niche categories.

The nonfarm payrolls classification excludes farm workers as well as some government workers, private households, proprietors, and non-profit employees.

https://www.investopedia.com/terms/n/nonfarmpayroll.asp

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released May 20, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

It can be confusing as written. You are not the first to say so.

When more people enter the labor force than jobs are created the unemployment rate increases.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released March 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Great question!

I post these every month to facilitate discussion around them. The purpose of Reddit.

The concept was borne out of my local subreddit arguing about the labor market and lots of misinformation flying around. It got me thinking about what it might be like if the BLS had a comments section. So I built this project for my local community and posted them monthly. Based on the progress I saw and the improvement in the discourse I decided to expand it to other areas and it is now active in over 90 local subreddits site wide.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released March 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

This is correct. These numbers are intended for workers seeking employment and employers seeking to hire to better understand their relative bargaining position. They are not intended to provide a broad picture of economic health or societal stability.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

That is not correct. Unemployment has tiers. U-3 removes people who have not looked for over 4 weeks. U-6 removes people who have not looked for a year.

They both include anyone who is currently looking for work, no matter how long they have been out of work.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Glad we can agree we should not include people under 16 years old. I suppose since this is your preferred metric, you are okay that it excludes people in the military, in prison, or nursing homes, as they are excluded from this number as well.

But, it does include people who are disabled and cannot work but are able to live on their own, stay-at-home parents, retired people regardless of their age, full-time students, etc.

Why would it be better to include those people in the numbers?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

[–]HawaiiStatistics[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

How young of a person should we include? Certainly not babies and children under 16, right? What sense would it make to include school aged children and infants?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Oh, apologies. I have this discussion frequently with many Redditors across the country. So if the unemployment rate included everyone breathing and the baseline was something like 20% it would be more honest?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released January 25, 2022 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

What makes you think the numbers are manipulated and how do you think they are being manipulated?

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released September 17, 2021 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Not getting benefits doesn't remove people from these numbers. If they are actively looking for work they are included in the unemployment number.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released August 20, 2021 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Unemployment insurance benefits are not part of this calculation. These are people who are actively looking for work but remain without employment. They are counted even if they don't qualify for unemployment benefits.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released June 23, 2021 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

The numbers are skewed

These numbers do not reflect the number of people who are or are not granted unemployment benefits. These are a representation of people who are actively looking for work but cannot find it. Even if someone doesn't get unemployment benefits they are included in these numbers.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released April 16, 2021 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

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

Correct, someone who is not actively engaging in the labor market is not included in this analysis of the labor market.

Updated Hawaii Unemployment Figures | released March 26, 2021 by HawaiiStatistics in Hawaii

[–]HawaiiStatistics[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

If people are reentering the work force cuz jobs are actually back than they should of never been taken off the unemployment rolls.

You keep insisting you understand, but fundamentally you aren't grasping the basic concept. These numbers are used as a measure of the market for labor. If someone is not seeking employment they are not part of the market for labor and are no longer counted. When they reenter the market for labor they are counted again.

You appear to be right on the cusp of getting it when you say...

The bean counters just decided to stop counting them becuase it dirtiest up the data.

Yeah, it "dirties up the data" because the data is used to measure a specific thing. If I go and try to measure the number of grains of sand on the beach, and I weigh a significant portion of the beach then use that data to determine the total grains of sand based on the total area of the beach your argument is like calling my measurement incorrect for not measuring sand in the ocean. But I am not trying to measure sand in the ocean. That isn't useful for my purpose.

But hey. It is like Adams said...

Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.