Replication data for: Misclassification Errors and the Underestimation of the US Unemployment Rate

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Shuaizhang Feng; Yingyao Hu

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
Bootstrapping_m.m text/plain 2.5 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
ReadMe.docx application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document 22.2 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
ReadMe.pdf application/pdf 140.6 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
S1-read-monthly-data.sas text/plain 9.4 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
S2-unemp.sas text/plain 2.5 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
S2.1-unemp-boot.sas text/plain 2.6 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
S3-matching.sas text/plain 6.1 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
S4-lfs.sas text/plain 3.6 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
generate_27.m text/plain 714 bytes 10/11/2019 02:17:PM
generate_MEE.m text/plain 1.8 KB 10/11/2019 02:17:PM

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary Using recent results in the measurement error literature, we show that the official US unemployment rate substantially underestimates the true level of unemployment, due to misclassification errors in the labor force status in the Current Population Survey. During the period from January 1996 to August 2011, the corrected monthly unemployment rates are between 1 and 4.4 percentage points (2.1 percentage points on average) higher than the official rates, and are more sensitive to changes in business cycles. The labor force participation rates, however, are not affected by this correction.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      E24 Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity
      E32 Business Fluctuations; Cycles
      J21 Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure


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Published Versions

V1 [2019-10-11]

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