To assess the impact of policy instruments for the specific target group of unemployed jobseekers, various statistical and econometric methods are usually used, the most commonly used of which are unambiguously counterfactual methods. Their principle lies in creating a counterfactual situation, which estimates what would have happened in the absence of intervention. In this paper, the authors provide an overview of the methods of creating this control group and consequent evaluation of the effect of the programs and also analyze the use of methods in studies conducted in the EU Member States.