Do you agree that the unemployment rate published by the gov is a good measure?
I do think it is a good measure, there are more people working now then ever.
The gov calculates it by dividing the number of the unemployed  people by all individuals currently in the labor force.
I do not think there can be a spot on accuracy, I think maybe it is just a round about figure, of course those who have ceased from looking for employment are not counted at all
were without a job in 2012.
Definitions, types, and theories.
The state of being without any work yet looking for work is called unemployment. Economists distinguish between various overlapping types of and theories of unemployment, including cyclical or Keynesian unemployment, frictional unemployment, structural unemployment and classical unemployment. Some additional types of unemployment that are occasionally mentioned are seasonal unemployment, hardcore unemployment, and hidden unemployment.
Though there have been several definitions of "voluntary" and "involuntary unemployment" in the economics literature, a
measure the unemployment situation for the country. The unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of unemployed workers in the total labor market. If the workers are not currently working, they are considered unemployed, no matter the ability and willingness to do the job. This entire workforce is made up of all unemployed and employed population in the economy. Another important index is participation rate. Participation rate defined as the active labor force in an economy and is the labor force divided by the working age population. It shows the number of