[mattbrewsbytes]

If you aren't actively looking for work and you don't have a job why should this count as unemployment? This means they aren't collecting unemployment from their state, correct? If they are disabled (mentally/physically) enough to not be able to work, that is another category.

Whenever I hear/read this type of reply my answer is: so what? Why should they be counted as unemployed when they clearly are able but just aren't actively looking.

[pjmorris]

If they aren't actively looking because they're taken care of by some other means and are content with their lives, that's one thing. If they aren't actively looking because they have given up hope of finding a job, and are seething with discontent, that's another thing. Depending on which thing, and how many people are feeling it, there may be nothing to worry about, or an incipient revolution. That's my answer for 'so what?'

[wbc]

Do you know about discouraged workers and how they're already taken into account by BLS? https://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/discouraged_worker.asp

[pjmorris]

Yes. The BLS only looks at an estimate of their number, it doesn't examine their motives, circumstances, or level of discouragement. I seek to emphasize that all of those things matter.

[mattbrewsbytes]

I guess, also stay at home parents as well as baby boomers who got laid off and can maybe eek by til they collect retirement would be in this category too.

Just seems like an 'other' type of metric.

[TeMPOraL]

Because it depends on what you're really looking for. There are plenty of ways to opt out of the job market, most of which won't put you on the unemployment list. Unemployment rate matters if you're interested in how many people are in a particular, very specific, transition period between (legal) jobs. For this discussion, I suppose a better metric would be labour force participation rate.

[cabaalis]

Having observed the use of unemployment numbers for political reasons over the years, my opinion is that this "stopped actively looking" idea is used when there is not another valid criticism of the state of the economy available and the speaker still wishes to cast shade.

[mattbrewsbytes]

Ok, this seems plausible as to why that metric is counted by BLS separately. Politicians change unemployment coverage and stop counting people that move off unemployment funds to a different category, looks like they did something.