The unemployment rate is dropping in Michigan.  In fact new numbers show it is now 10.4%, which is down more than three full points from the same time last year. 

     But because so many people in Michigan have been getting unemployment benefits in Michigan for so long, several viewers wanted to know if the drop in the unemployment rate is just because more people are exhausting their benefits, or are more people getting jobs?   

      So what's in a number?  The answers we found are tonight's Fact Finder Report. 

     495,000 people in Michigan are looking for work.   How do we know?  The Department of Labor and Economic Growth got that number from a monthly census bureau sample of 1,700 households. 

     Economic Analyst Bruce Weaver says to be considered unemployed you need to meet three criteria. 

     You had no income, you looked for a job and you would take a job if it was offered to you.  

     He says, "One of the most common misconceptions is that the unemployment rate only captures people who are receiving unemployment benefits.  that's certainly not the case."

      In fact surveyors don't even ask whether or not you are receiving unemployment benefits, which Weaver says actually widens its scope.   

      Weaver says, "The number of unemployed is certainly above the number receiving unemployment benefits in the state."

     But the unemployment rate doesn't paint the whole picture either. 

     The key question often comes down to the one 'did you look for work?'

     Weaver says, "When the economy is struggling and jobs are hard to find there's question people do drop out of the workforce and if they drop out of the labor force and are not actively seeking a job then they do fall out of the statistics."

     So if you are not actively looking for work, then the state does not consider you unemployed, you're a discouraged worker.  Weaver says when the economy starts to improve, some of those discouraged workers start looking for work again and that can actually boost the unemployment rate temporarily. 

     Another thing the unemployment rate doesn't take into account is the underemployed, those who are part time, but want full time work, and those who don't make enough money. 

     Weaver says when you factor in discouraged workers and the underemployed into the unemployment rate, the number is much higher, nearly 20%.  So what do you think about this? 

     Should the government come up with another way to represent the real employment picture out there?  What's it look like in your community?   

     Share your thoughts below.