UnemploymentData.com

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) calculates six different measures of unemployment, U1 through U6. U-6 is the broadest measure of unemployment and includes all classes of Unemployed plus those ”marginally attached” and/or part-time for economic reasons. In other words, those who would like a full time job but can only find part-time work. Or perhaps they were working a full-time job and thier employer cut their hours rather than actually laying off employees.

According to the BLS,  persons marginally attached to the labor force are those who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the past 12 months. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not currently looking for work. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule.

The six classifications of unemployment that the Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks are:

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 the International Labor Organization definition. It occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks.

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.

Data Tables are available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for U1 – U6.

The following chart is a comparison of the Official Unemployment Rate U-3 to the broader U-6 Unemployment rate.

Current Commentary:

The current not seasonally adjusted U-3 standard unemployment rate is 8.8% up from 8.3% in December. This is the opposite of what the “Seasonally Adjusted” numbers are telling us. The popularly quoted Seasonally Adjusted Unemployment rate was 8.5% in December and 8.3% in January. And the U6 is now up from 15.2% in December to 16.2% in January.

Unemployment Rate Chart – The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate from 1948 to the present is one of the most watched statistics. Where is it now and should you trust it?

Current Employment Data – How many jobs are there actually? This chart shows Employment since Jan 2000 and what the current trend is.

Historical Employment Data Chart- How Many People Are Actually Employed? This chart shows the actual employment rate without all the mumbo jumbo. It gives a clear picture of  the employment level in the United States from 1939 to the Present. When employment is rising the ecomomy is growing. When the employment rate levels off or declines times are not so good. Take a look and see how employment rates correspond to recessions over time.

Misery Index- Created by economist Arthur Okun to help gauge the level of misery the average person is suffering. It is a combination of the inflation rate and the unemployment rate.