Unemployment numbers are not counted, just surveyed

since it is impractical to actually count every unemployed person each month, the Government conducts a monthly sample survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of unemployment in the country.

People think that the Government counts every unemployed person each month. To do this, every home in the country would have to be contacted—just as in the population census every 10 years.

There are about 60,000 households in the sample for this survey. This translates into approximately 110,000 individuals,

A sample is not a total count but it is consistent data and the calculations are estimated to be within a 10% plus or minus range.