Is this the way really count the unemployed, CPS

The government conducts a survey called the Current Population Survey (CPS) to measure the extent of  US unemployment, has been doing it since 1942

Each month, highly trained and experienced Census Bureau employees contact 60,000 eligible sample households and ask about their labor force activities (jobholding and job seeking) and non-labor force status. 


http://www.bls.gov/cps/cps_htgm.htm#where