Or maybe, to answer my own question, the household survey is the only way to capture discouraged workers as well as unemployed and part-time workers still actively looking for full-time work?
> SA wrote:
>
>
>> Marv Gandall wrote:
>>
>>> How did they measure unemployment in the early 30's, before the New Deal
>>> introduced UI, whose claims are the basis for determining the official
>>> rate
>>> most commonly used today?
>>
>> The official rate was never based on unemployment insurance claims. It's
>> based on responses to questions asked in the BLS's monthly survey of
>> households.
> ===================================
> Sorry, I must have been thinking weekly claims.
>
> Why did they settle on the household rather than the payroll survey as the
> official rate? Does the household survey tend more to understate
> joblessness?
>
>