Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization
| Measure | Not seasonally adjusted | Seasonally adjusted | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan. 2017 |
Dec. 2017 |
Jan. 2018 |
Jan. 2017 |
Sept. 2017 |
Oct. 2017 |
Nov. 2017 |
Dec. 2017 |
Jan. 2018 |
|
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force |
2.0 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.9 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force |
2.7 | 2.1 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.1 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate) |
5.1 | 3.9 | 4.5 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.1 |
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers |
5.5 | 4.2 | 4.8 | 5.1 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 | 4.4 |
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force |
6.2 | 4.9 | 5.5 | 5.8 | 5.1 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.1 | 5.1 |
U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force |
10.1 | 8.0 | 8.9 | 9.4 | 8.3 | 8.0 | 8.0 | 8.1 | 8.2 |
|
NOTE: 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. Updated population controls are introduced annually with the release of January data. |
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