--- title: Money 101: Employment Report Explainer | TIME description: A look at the monthly employment numbers reports and what they mean. canonical: https://time.com/video/6DyBUgQR/ og:title: Money 101: Employment Report Explainer og:description: A look at the monthly employment numbers reports and what they mean. og:url: https://time.com/video/6DyBUgQR/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6DyBUgQR/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Money 101: Employment Report Explainer twitter:description: A look at the monthly employment numbers reports and what they mean. twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/6DyBUgQR/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Money 101: Employment Report Explainer > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Money 101: Employment Report Explainer [Watch (HLS stream): Money 101: Employment Report Explainer](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/6DyBUgQR.m3u8) (2:00)  _Published 2015-05-29. A look at the monthly employment numbers reports and what they mean._ --- Jul 27, 2023 6:20 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [America's Largest Employers MONEY](/video/zELG6com/) ### America's Largest Employers MONEY [Money 101: Inflation Explained](/video/6O8NljRP/) ### Money 101: Inflation Explained [Fortune’s Top 10 Largest Employers In The World](/video/FlEi7mdc/) ### Fortune’s Top 10 Largest Employers In The World --- ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When you want to say whether it's hard or easy to get a job right now, the answer usually boils down to one number, the unemployment rate. When the job market is strong, like it was in the late 1990s and mid 2000s, the unemployment rate can fall below 5 %. In 2009, after the economic crisis, It reached as high as 10 %. But while the unemployment rate is a good shorthand for the job situation, it doesn't quite give the whole picture. Each month the government publishes two key sets of data. It asks employers how much hiring or firing they're doing, that's payroll employment. And it asks workers whether they have a job if they want one, that's the unemployment rate. Payroll number adds up all the hiring minus all the firing to tell you how many jobs have been added to the economy, or sometimes subtracted from it. For example, in a decent month, you might see 250, 000 new jobs. The unemployment rate is based on a survey. People are asked only they have work, Whether they want work or are looking for it. If you don't want work and you aren't looking for it you don't count as an employee. For example retired people don't count as employed. Neither does someone that has become so discouraged about their job. Prospects that they have stopped actively looking. That wrinkle is important. It means the unemployment rate may sometimes understate how difficult the job market is. Some people who might like work if jobs seemed to be available or if they paid better aren't counted in the workforce. [ MUSIC ] Keeping unemployment from shooting even higher. On the flip side, when jobs are growing, the unemployment rate might not fall as fast as you think. In fact, a slight uptick in the unemployment rate can sometimes be a good sign. As the job market and wages improve, more people start looking for work. At first, until they land that job, it means they are added to the rolls again. Be unemployed. Bottom line, when you're talking about jobs, you need to look at employment growth and the unemployment rate together. 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