This is likely why people get all screwed up over statistics:
The unemployment rate and related data are calculated based on a monthly survey of about 60,000 U.S. households. The survey asks a series of questions to determine whether household residents who are 16 years old or older are employed, unemployed or not in the labor force. (msnbc)
Isn’t 60,000 households rather a small number to be fudging figures that amount to 13.2 million unemployed? Yes, I’ve taken Statistics and know that there’s a kernal of truth as a basis to form these guesstimates, but in times like this, I hardly think that this small portion of American households is representative of the country. It’s likely that unemployment compensation figures along with recently (within 6 months) of those losing benefits, or company data might project a more accurate figure.
The Lost Children: A Charity Anthology