Simple arithmetic.

[kentuck]

If the economy has already lost 42 million jobs and it gains 2.5 million new jobs, but it loses another 1.9 million thru unemployment stats, how many people are unemployed? Shouldn't that number be somewhere around 41 million still unemployed?

What would be the real unemployment rate, according to the facts as we know them?

(Consider that @63% of the population is in the work force) About 157 million workers total?

In my math, 41 million unemployed is more than 25%.

In order to get to 13%, approximately 21 million more Americans would need to get their jobs back.

[underpants]

1. Don't unemployment numbers lag a week

Asking for a friend

[sinkingfeeling]

2. And earlier this year there were 157 million employed. So, even

Using a mete 40 million still unemployed:
40÷157=25.4%

[unblock]

5. The denominator is the labor pool

All people who either have a job or who were looking for a job in the last 4 weeks. By your numbers, that's 197

Note that people who lost their job but who didn't look for a new one (discouraged workers) aren't counted as unemployed even if they want a job. Over 9 million of these.

[quaint]

3. They admit to 16.1 percent in May.

U.S. unemployment drops unexpectedly to a still-high 13.3%
The Associated Press

Friday's report made it clear the government continues to struggle with how it classifies millions of workers on temporary layoff. The Labor Department admitted that government household survey-takers mistakenly counted about 4.9 million temporarily laid-off people as employed.

The government doesn't correct its survey results for fear of the appearance of political manipulation.

Had the mistake been corrected, the unemployment rate would have risen to 16.1 percent in May. But the corrected April figure would have been more than than 19 percent, rather than 14.7 percent.

[kentuck]

6. For real, AP?

"The government doesn't correct its survey results for fear of the appearance of political manipulation."

Even if they are wrong??

???

[BamaRefugee]

4. Can't find it right now but they admitted today they "mistakenly" reported 4 million people laid off

Due to pandemic we’re “employed”. They said they were afraid to fix mistake because people might think they were doing something “political “.

Posted here on DU.