ANNOUNCER: A CNN viewer wants to know: "How is the unemployment rate determined?"</s>BROOKS JACKSON, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: The job figures come from a giant government poll called the Current Population Survey. It's been going on since 1940. Every month the Census Bureau contacts a sample of 60,000 U.S. households. Questioners ask about each person over 16 years old. Did they work for pay or profit during the previous week? If yes, they're employed, even if it's only part-time or temporary. If not employed, did they look for work, and at any time during the last four weeks? If so, they're in the labor force -- along with everyone who's employed, of course. Based on the census survey, Labor Department statisticians estimate the workforce was nearly 142 million in February. Of those, nearly 136 million were employed and 5.9 million were not. Divide and you find 5.9 million is 4.2 percent of the total workforce. That's the unemployment rate.
`Ask CNN': How is the Unemployment Rate Determined?