actually these numbers are quite detailed the labor dept does as good a job tracking this as can be done, check this out:
"The unemployment rate appeared to be falling because people were genuinely securing jobs rather than merely leaving the work force. The Labor Department adjusted its data to account for new population estimates from the 2010 Census. The labor force had a net gain of 250,000 people in January from a month earlier. Although the pool of unemployed people has been shrinking, the number remains high — 12.8 million — about equal to the population of Pennsylvania, and long-term unemployment is one of the most crushing legacies of this recent recession. For January, the Labor Department reported that 5.5 million people had been out of work for six months or more, about 43 percent of the jobless.
And according to an analysis of December’s job numbers released this week by the Pew Fiscal Analysis Initiative, nearly a third of the jobless have been unemployed for a year or more.
Underemployment is another stubborn problem. The number of people working part time because they cannot find full-time work was 8.2 million in January. Including that group and the 1.1 million who stopped looking for work altogether, and the broader measure of unemployment was 15.1 percent. "
that doesnt mean the numbers are fudged, unemployment just counts people who are on the unemployment benefits roll and people on unemployment who are currently looking for work it is NOT meant to count those who stopped looking for work, there are other figures for that
the labor dept calculates six different unemployment rates if you didnt know called U1 though U6
U1:[Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer. U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work. U3: Official unemployment rate per the ILO definition occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks. U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them. U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently. U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons (underemployment).