I think, with the rise of the gig economy, the number of unemployed persons is not a very good metric anymore, because it doesn't make a distinction between a full-time employee, a shift worker getting 20 hours per week, and an Uber driver working at a loss, if you count the car depreciation.
A better metric could be the number of billable work hours within the last month, or the payroll distribution curve. The latter can be easily computed from the monthly payroll taxes and should show if people are being massively shifted to part-time or laid off and not immediately finding another job.
A better metric could be the number of billable work hours within the last month, or the payroll distribution curve. The latter can be easily computed from the monthly payroll taxes and should show if people are being massively shifted to part-time or laid off and not immediately finding another job.