U-6 Unemployment Rate

The U-6 unemployment rate measures broad labor underutilization in the United States. The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes it from the Current Population Survey, a monthly household survey of about 60000 households. It covers civilians age 16 and over. It is the widest among U-1 through U-6.

The official unemployment rate is U-3. U-6 adds two groups that U-3 excludes. It therefore runs above U-3. It appears each month in Table A-15 in adjusted and unadjusted forms.

Responses refer to a set reference week. Interviews take place in a set interview week. The Employment Situation release appears at 8:30 AM Eastern Time on a scheduled Friday, usually the first after the reference month.

Each release posts household tables with Table A-15 for U-1 through U-6 in adjusted and unadjusted forms, plus payroll tables and notes. Seasonal factors update each month using all data through that month. Population controls update in a set annual routine without revising earlier official household estimates.

Three groups push U-6 up or down.

• Total unemployed: people with no work who are available and searched in the past 4 weeks, plus people on layoff expecting recall.

• Marginally attached: persons not working nor seeking work who want work, are available, and looked within 12 months. This includes discouraged workers who stopped looking for job market reasons.

• Part time for economic reasons: people working 1 to 34 hours for slack work, wanting and available for full time work.

• Civilian labor force: employed plus unemployed people, forming the base to which marginally attached are added.

In one past downturn used as a teaching example, U-6 reached 22.8% while U-3 reached 14.7%, a gap of 8.1 points. Unemployed rose to 23.1 million, involuntary part time to 10.9 million, and marginally attached to 2.3 million. Payroll employment fell by 20.5 million, the largest drop on record. The gap shows broader slack the headline excludes.

1. Classify people: Assign each person age 16 and over as employed, unemployed, or outside the labor force from reference week answers and 4 week search. Flag marginally attached and part time workers wanting full time work.

1. Weight to population: Weight answers by inverse selection chance, adjust for nonresponse, match population controls, and blend with the prior month panel.

1. Sum levels: Add weighted counts for unemployed (U), marginally attached (MA), involuntary part time (PTER), and labor force (LF) of employed plus unemployed.

1. Divide with example: Compute U-6 as 100 times (U plus MA plus PTER) divided by (LF plus MA). Illustrative example: U 7.0 million, MA 1.5 million, PTER 4.5 million, and LF 170.0 million give 100 times 13.0 over 171.5, about 7.6%. Publish adjusted and unadjusted rates using concurrent factors.