calculated unemployment rate is different from BLS report

CPS
1

Hi, I tried to construct unemployment rate from CPS. I calcualted the ratio between weighted sum of people who are unemployed (empstat > =20 & empstat < 30) over weighted sum of people who are in laborforce (labforce=2, or empstat>=10 & empstat <30 tried both) . It turns out that the unemployment rate I calcluated is different from the one reported by bureau of labor statistics. The difference is 0.5-1 point higher in most cases.

I am not sure how this happens.

Thanks a lot for your help in advance.

Best wishes,

Vera

2

While it is unlikely you will be able to exactly match the BLS unemployment rate, your estimates should be closer than you report. Try the following:

  1. Exclude any IPUMS-CPS respondents under the age of 16.
  2. Make sure you are comparing your results to the “Not Seasonally Adjusted” unemployment rate.

Hope this helps.