- Jun 19, 2009
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Just getting real on the unemployment figures and supplying some alternate links for y'all.
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Forget the official 8.2% unemployment rate. Take a hard look instead at whats known as the U6 rate, which tracks not only those out of work but those whove essentially given up looking for work.
That rate stands at about 14.5%, or nearly double the official unemployment rate.
As economists digest the disappointing job numbers released Friday -- just 120,000 jobs added in March, well below expectations -- some say the U6 figure is the data point people should be focused on.
The official figure used by the Labor Department leaves out a lot of people whove just given up, said Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar and economist at the American Enterprise Institute.
The U6 number is derived from a household survey that includes people who are actually unemployed as well as those who havent looked for work in over four weeks, Mathur explained.
If youre unemployed and you havent been looking for work in the previous four weeks than youre not considered part of the official unemployed, she said. The U6 rate, meanwhile, includes all of those people who are too discouraged to look for work.
The 120,000 jobs added in March was the smallest increase since October and effectively killed momentum that had been growing in the labor markets since late last year. Forecasts had predicted nonfarm unemployment to rise by 203,000. The economy had added more than 200,000 jobs in each of the past two months.
Time to Focus on the Real Unemployment Rate | Fox Business
other links
Alternate Unemployment Charts
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
-----------------------------
Forget the official 8.2% unemployment rate. Take a hard look instead at whats known as the U6 rate, which tracks not only those out of work but those whove essentially given up looking for work.
That rate stands at about 14.5%, or nearly double the official unemployment rate.
As economists digest the disappointing job numbers released Friday -- just 120,000 jobs added in March, well below expectations -- some say the U6 figure is the data point people should be focused on.
The official figure used by the Labor Department leaves out a lot of people whove just given up, said Aparna Mathur, a resident scholar and economist at the American Enterprise Institute.
The U6 number is derived from a household survey that includes people who are actually unemployed as well as those who havent looked for work in over four weeks, Mathur explained.
If youre unemployed and you havent been looking for work in the previous four weeks than youre not considered part of the official unemployed, she said. The U6 rate, meanwhile, includes all of those people who are too discouraged to look for work.
The 120,000 jobs added in March was the smallest increase since October and effectively killed momentum that had been growing in the labor markets since late last year. Forecasts had predicted nonfarm unemployment to rise by 203,000. The economy had added more than 200,000 jobs in each of the past two months.
Time to Focus on the Real Unemployment Rate | Fox Business
other links
Alternate Unemployment Charts
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
