That reddit comment is itself opinionated. The poster says that you don't want to count people who are disabled or who don't want to work.
I'd argue we should count those people. If someone has failed to find a job they want for a long time, they might give up. That reduces the numerator and denominator each by 1, reducing the calculated unemployment rate. Does that make any sense?
18.7% of West Virginians are on disability, so aren't counted as unemployed. Meanwhile only 10.5% of New Jerseyans are. Are West Virginians really almost twice as likely to be physically disabled as their near-neighbors in NJ?
I was thinking of this article when I wrote my comment, but didn't bother to search for it. Thanks for reading my mind and taking the time to find the article!
Comments
That reddit comment is itself opinionated. The poster says that you don't want to count people who are disabled or who don't want to work.
I'd argue we should count those people. If someone has failed to find a job they want for a long time, they might give up. That reduces the numerator and denominator each by 1, reducing the calculated unemployment rate. Does that make any sense?
Agreed. Similarly, "who [is] disabled" is far from objective:
https://apps.npr.org/unfit-for-work/
18.7% of West Virginians are on disability, so aren't counted as unemployed. Meanwhile only 10.5% of New Jerseyans are. Are West Virginians really almost twice as likely to be physically disabled as their near-neighbors in NJ?
I was thinking of this article when I wrote my comment, but didn't bother to search for it. Thanks for reading my mind and taking the time to find the article!