Broader Measure Of Unemployment (U-6) Rises As Hours Work Declines And Part-Time Workers Increase

Posted by Milton Recht:

From The Wall Street Journal, "Broader Unemployment Rate Ticks Up" by Phil Izzo:

But there was an area of concern in the [Jobs] report as a broader rate, known as the “U-6″ for its data classification by the Labor Department, increased to 13.9% from 13.8% a month earlier. That includes everyone in the official rate plus “marginally attached workers” — those who are neither working nor looking for work, but say they want a job and have looked for work recently; and people who are employed part-time for economic reasons, meaning they want full-time work but took a part-time schedule instead because that’s all they could find.

In April, the rate ticked up as the number of workers who are part-time but want full-time work increased. That came even as the numbers of hours worked also dropped this month for all workers. This raises the question about the kinds of jobs being created, and whether they can support a faster recovery.

To be sure, a 278,000 jump in the part-time for economic reasons category followed a big drop the month before. But there still are nearly 8 million people in the U.S. who want a better job, while more than 11.5 million remain unemployed.