Gallup tracks daily the employment status of the U.S. population and the workforce, based on the combination of responses to a set of questions designed to measure U.S. employment accurately, in accordance with International Conference of Labour Statisticians standards. Based on an individual's responses to the question series (some of which are asked of only a subset of respondents), Gallup classifies respondents into one of six employment categories: employed full time for an employer; employed full time for self; employed part time, but do not want to work full time; employed part time, but want to work full time; unemployed; and out of the workforce.
Gallup Good Jobs is a measure of those who are employed by an employer for at least 30 hours per week. Gallup Good Jobs is calculated as a percentage of the total population.
Underemployed respondents are employed part time, but want to work full time, or they are unemployed. Unemployed respondents are those within the underemployed group who are not employed, even for one hour a week, but are available and looking for work. Unemployment and underemployment are calculated as a percentage of the workforce.
Results are based on daily telephone interviews with U.S. adults aged 18 and older in the workforce. Daily results reflect 30-day rolling averages based on telephone interviews with approximately 30,000 adults. Differences between Gallup's methodology and that of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics prevent direct comparisons from being made between the estimates. Differences between the methodologies include the age of respondents, the time period in which data are collected, and the sample used. Because results are not seasonally adjusted, they are not directly comparable to numbers reported by the BLS, which are based on workers aged 16 and older. Margin of error is ±1 percentage point.