Tuesday, August 11, 2009

U1-6 Unemployment...

From the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this is how we calculate Unemployment... Note that U3 is the "official" number - which currently stands at 9.4%, however, this is at least in my opinion rather misleading. I fit into the U6 category... I am what you would call "underemployed", working part time when I was originally expecting full-time, and at a wage considerably less than I was anticipating, with virtually no way of increasing that in the near future.
  • U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
  • U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
  • U3: Official unemployment rate per ILO definition.
  • U4: U3 + "discouraged workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them.
  • U5: U4 + other "marginally attached workers", or "loosely attached workers", or those who "would like" and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently.
  • U6: U5 + Part time workers who want to work full time, but cannot due to economic reasons.
If you use the U6 number, the United States unemployment rate is 16.5%.

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