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Economic News Release
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Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization

HOUSEHOLD DATA
Table A-15. Alternative measures of labor underutilization [Percent]
Measure Not seasonally adjusted Seasonally adjusted
Sept.
2019		 Aug.
2020		 Sept.
2020		 Sept.
2019		 May
2020		 June
2020		 July
2020		 Aug.
2020		 Sept.
2020

U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force

 1.3 5.0 4.5 1.3 1.4 2.1 5.0 5.1 4.6

U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force

 1.4 6.4 5.5 1.6 11.6 8.9 8.1 6.4 5.7

U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official unemployment rate)

 3.3 8.5 7.7 3.5 13.3 11.1 10.2 8.4 7.9

U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers

 3.5 8.8 8.0 3.7 13.6 11.5 10.6 8.7 8.2

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

 4.1 9.7 8.8 4.3 14.6 12.5 11.3 9.6 8.9

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

 6.5 14.3 12.4 6.9 21.2 18.0 16.5 14.2 12.8

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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Last Modified Date: October 05, 2020