When the government measures what it calls the unemployment rate, you might wish that it were measuring what you call the unemployment rate, vs. what it calls the unemployment rate.
But at least the government's definition of the unemployment rate hasn't changed, and each time they measure it they are measuring the same thing.
So, even if you doubt the absolute number, you can still have confidence that if you can compare the current number with past numbers, you will get a reliable reading on whether things are moving in the right direction or not.
AS I said, high-tech is not used to facing this--it was us who were automating thing, and letting businesses do more with fewer people. Now its finally come around to us, and it sucks, but its nothing everybody else hasn't faced since the beginning of the industrial age.