The BLS reports on the number of unemployed from a household survey. This also includes workers' age, sex, and race/ethnicity. The household survey has a more expansive scope than the establishment survey because it includes the self-employed,unpaid family workers, agricultural workers, and private household workers, who are excluded by the establishment survey. However, it is not as accurate as the business establishment survey because it has a smaller sample size.
Therefore, employment figures are taken from the establishment survey. Employment figures also include part-time workers. In the first stages of an economic slow-down, the number of workers stays the same, but the percentage of part-time workers increases as people cannot find enough full-time jobs. About mid-way during the slowdown, the total number of workers often decreases as even part-time jobs become unavailable.
Conversely, when the economy starts to pick up again, the first workers hired are part-time employees. That is because businesses are very hesitant to add full-time salaried employees until they know that the economy will sustain continued demand for their products and services. Once full-time employment increases, then you know the economic recovery is well underway.
