Do European countries calculate unemployment rates differently?

[mrreowwr_kittty]

Reason I'm asking is that I'm in a bit of a debate with a winger right now. He insists that the U.S. is in better shape than Europe because of our higher rate of growth and lower unemployment. He says Germany has a rate of 10% compared to ours of 4.9% or whatever. I am under the impression that we use sort of a bogus formula to calculate our rate, one that eliminates a lot of non-working people for various reasons. I also know that they changed the participation rate back in the '90s, which reduces the number of people from which you draw the sample.

So how do countries like Germany calculate theirs? Is there a significant difference? I've tried to find stuff on Google but am not getting anything. There are plenty of articles from about 2 years ago on their rising unemployment but nothing on how the calculations are done. Not that I'd understand them if I found it ;)

[sweetheart]

1. Taking things out of unemployment is an art.

Long term disability is a term used in britain to avoid calling it unemployment.
Also, as european employment is generally living-wage, all american minimum wage
workers, as they are under a living wage, are arguably still unemployed.

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:1AnzVRm3a0cJ:www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2000/06/art1full.pdf+EU+unemployment+definition&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=7

http://64.233.161.104/search?q=cache:NDXvjcAtiRQJ:epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2006/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2006_MONTH_03/3-01032006-EN-BP.PDF+EU+unemployment+definition&hl=en&gl=uk&ct=clnk&cd=1

[The Deacon]

2. Yeah, They Calculate It Differently

They don't lie about it.

[yellerpup]

3. Good one, Deacon.

Welcome to DU! :hi:

[Monk06]

4. You're right about that. Frank Veneroso was saying two years ago that

US unemployment figures are cooked up on a spread
sheet by the Labor Dept. They don't have any hard
data on unemployment.


Here's a link to how Frank see's the US economy

http://goldmoney.com/en/commentary/2004-04-08.html

Here's his profile and website.

http://www.venerosoassociates.net/

[endarkenment]

5. here make sense of this

http://www.eu-employment-observatory.net/ERSEP/imi56_uk/00140002.asp

"10.1.10. Conclusions
Although the difference in employment participation between the USA and Japan, on the one hand, and the average figure for the EU countries, on the other, is very substantial, there are a number of European countries with similarly high employment rates. The composition of these high rates in a comparison between the countries of the "triad" differs from country to country, however. Male employment in Japan is not only high - the high participation rates of elderly men compared with Europe and, to a lesser extent, the USA are particularly striking - they are also stable over time. The USA, in turn, has managed to integrate more women of all age categories into the labour market than Europe, on average, has done. "

Most of it is gobbledygook suitable for economists only, but it does discuss things in terms of employment participation rates rather than unemployment rates, and discusses why it does so.

[EC]

6. Bernachi let it slip yesterday

that counting the ones not collecting unemployment that are still unemployed, we are at closer to 12%.

[Monk06]

8. Same in Canada. If you fall off welfare and end up living on the street...

you're counted as employed ????????

I'm not kidding welfare considers a dumpster diver
a self employed business man.

Government employment stats are indeed cooked.

[Sammy Pepys]

7. I don't know if they calculate it differently....

...but the labor markets in Europe are a lot different than ours. Remember the Paris riots a few months back? That was over whether an employer could fire you within a certain time period. I think a lot of Europe is like that (I know Germany has similar laws). A lot of employment policies are bogged down in bureacracy, quite frankly.

So I would imagine that affects employment growth somewhat.

[Orrin_73]

9. Paris riots were the result of killing 2 immigrants

by the french police and not about unemployment.

[Sammy Pepys]

10. These are the ones I'm thinking of.....

"RIOTS in Paris have cast doubt on the city's ability to safely host the Champions League Final in just 50 days time.

Parts of the French capital have been ablaze this week as thousands of young people demonstrate against new government employment laws."

http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=1354&id=468442006

[stevebreeze]

11. a different employment rate is published here

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm
The U6 figure gives a truer picture of unemployment but still does not included all it should.