
“ How the Government Measures Unemployment," Select "What are the basic concepts of employment and unemployment?" “ How the Government Measures Unemployment," Select "Where do the statistics come from?" " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Alternative measures of labor underutilization (U-1 through U-6)." " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Marginally attached to the labor force." " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Discouraged workers." " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Not in the labor force." " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Unemployment rate." " Labor Force Statistics from the Current Population Survey: Frequently Asked Questions," Select "How are seasonal fluctuations taken into account?" " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Employed." " Concepts and Definitions (CPS)," Select "Unemployed." Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization." " Data Retrieval: Labor Force Statistics (CPS)." " Release Calendar: List View," Select "By Month: Entire Year, 2023." The denominator for this ratio is the same as in U-5.įederal Reserve Bank of St. This category is often referred to as underemployed, although that label arguably includes full-time workers who are overqualified for their jobs. In addition to the categories included in U-5, it accounts for people who have been forced to settle for part-time work even though they want to work full-time.

This metric is the BLS's most comprehensive. U-6 = Labor Force + MA Unemployed + MA + PTER × 100 where: MA = marginally attached PTER = part-time for economic reasons The August 2023 seasonally adjusted U-3 unemployment rate as reported by the BLS was 3.8%. To calculate the U-3 unemployment rate, the number of unemployed people is divided by the number of people in the labor force, which consists of all employed and unemployed people. The more comprehensive U-6 rate, which is often called the real unemployment rate, is an alternative measure of unemployment that includes groups such as discouraged workers who stopped looking for a new job and the underemployed who work part-time because they can't find full-time employment. The seasonally adjusted U-6 real unemployment rate for August 2023 was 7.1%, which is slightly higher than the 6.7% rate reported in July 2023. The U-3 is not the only metric available, and it measures unemployment fairly narrowly.

The national unemployment rate for August 2023 increased from the previous month to 3.8%.
