The Department of Industrial Relations produces
unemployment estimates in cooperation with the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
BLS is a division of the U.S. Department of Labor and functions as the principal
data-gathering agency of the federal government in the field of labor
economics. The unemployment rate is calculated by taking the number of
unemployed persons divided by the civilian labor force.
The Civilian Labor Force comprises the total of all
civilians age 16 and older classified as either employed or unemployed.
Unemployment is defined as an estimate of the number
of persons who did not have a job, but were available for work and actively
seeking work during the calendar week that includes the 12th day of
the month.
Employment is a count of all persons who worked full
or part-time or received pay from a nonagricultural employer for any part of the
pay period that included the 12th day of the month. Also included
are persons who worked 15 hours or more as unpaid workers in an enterprise
operated by a member of their family.
The published state unemployment rate is seasonally
adjusted so that the rate is comparable to the published national
unemployment rate. County and metropolitan area rates cannot be seasonally
adjusted. Not seasonally adjusted state rates are available on our Web site.
Seasonal Adjustment is a statistical technique
applied to monthly data to eliminate changes that normally occur during the year
due to seasonal events such as weather, major holidays, shifts in production
schedules, harvest times, and the opening and closing of schools.
More detailed information on the unemployment estimates
methodology is on the BLS Web site at:
http://www.bls.gov/lau/laumthd.htm.