In 2016, the broadest measure of labor underutilization, designated U-6 (which includes the unemployed, workers employed part time for economic reasons, and those marginally attached to the labor force), was 9.7 percent in Kentucky, not significantly different from the 9.6-percent rate for the nation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Janet S. Rankin noted that the six alternative measures of labor underutilization in Kentucky were not statistically different from 2015. Nationally, all six measures had significant over-the-year declines. (See table 1.)

The official concept of unemployment, U-3 in the U-1 to U-6 range of measures, includes all jobless persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past 4 weeks. In Kentucky, 4.9 percent of the labor force was unemployed as measured by U-3 in 2016, not measurably different than the 4.9-percent rate for the nation. (See chart 1.) (The official measure of unemployment in the states is derived using a statistical model that incorporates data from the Current Population Survey [CPS] and other sources, and this model-based estimate can differ from the direct CPS estimate discussed here.)

Kentucky had 98,900 unemployed residents in 2016 according to the CPS. In addition, there were 73,800 workers who were employed part time for economic reasons (also known as involuntary part time). These individuals were working part time because of slack work or business conditions, or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, there were 5.9 million individuals working part time for economic reasons in 2016.

 

In 2016, the number of individuals considered to be marginally attached to the labor force in Kentucky was 23,500. People marginally attached to the labor force are not working but indicate that they would like to work, are available to work, and have looked for work at some time during the past 12 months even though they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. In the United States, the number marginally attached totaled 1.8 million in 2016.

Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, are persons who are not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. In 2016, there were 11,600 discouraged workers in Kentucky, accounting for about 49 percent of all marginally attached workers in the state. The U-4 measure, which adds discouraged workers to the number of the unemployed (expressed as a percentage of the labor force plus the number of discouraged workers), was 5.5 percent in Kentucky, not significantly different from the national rate of 5.2 percent.

State comparisons

In 2016, South Dakota had the lowest rates for four alternative measures of labor underutilization: U-1, U-2, U-5, and U-6. New Hampshire and South Dakota had the lowest rates for U-3 and U-4. In total, nine states had rates notably lower than those of the U.S. for all six measures, while four states (California, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico) had rates substantially higher than those of the U.S. for all six measures. (See table 2.)

Relative to 2015, three states (California, Massachusetts, and South Carolina) experienced notable decreases in all six measures of labor underutilization. For each measure, at least eight states showed considerable improvement over the year. Wyoming had appreciable increases in all six measures over the year, ranging from +0.8 percentage point in U-1 to +1.9 points in U-6. No other state had a noteworthy increase in any of the six measures.

Many states with extreme measures, either low or high, maintained their general place in the rankings of alternative measures over the year. Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont had rates among the 10 lowest for each measure in 2015 and 2016. Similarly, Nevada, New Mexico, and West Virginia had rates among the 10 highest for each measure in both years.

Technical Note

Table 1. Over-the-year change and measure of statistical significance in alternative measures of labor underutilization for the United States and Kentucky, 2015–16 annual averages (percent)

Measure	United States			Kentucky
	2015	2016	Change 2015–16	2015	2016	Change 2015–16
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force	2.3	2.0	-0.3*	2.0	2.0	0.0
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force	2.6	2.3	-0.3*	2.6	2.3	-0.3
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official concept of unemployment) (1)	5.3	4.9	-0.4*	5.4	4.9	-0.5
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers (2)	5.7	5.2	-0.5*	5.7	5.5	-0.2
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 (2)	6.4	5.9	-0.5*	6.5	6.0	-0.5
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 (2)	10.4	9.6	-0.8*	10.3	9.7	-0.6
Footnotes: (1) The U-3 rates presented are unofficial state estimates derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS). The official measure is a model-based estimate available through the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program at www.bls.gov/lau/data. (2) 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.
Note: An asterisk indicates that the over-the-year change is statistically different at the 90-percent confidence level.

 

Table 2. Alternative measures of labor underutilization by state, 2016 annual averages (percent)

State	Measure
	U-1	U-2	U-3	U-4	U-5	U-6
United States	2.0	2.3	4.9	5.2	5.9	9.6
Alabama	2.5	2.5	6.0	6.4	7.1	10.4
Alaska	2.5	3.8	6.6	7.2	8.4	12.8
Arizona	1.8	2.1	5.2	5.5	6.5	10.8
Arkansas	1.6	1.6	3.9	4.2	4.7	7.5
California	2.2	2.7	5.4	5.7	6.5	11.3
Colorado	1.5	1.6	3.3	3.4	3.8	7.3
Connecticut	2.3	2.9	5.2	5.5	6.6	10.8
Delaware	1.9	2.0	4.3	4.6	5.1	8.3
District of Columbia	3.7	2.6	6.1	6.4	7.5	9.5
Florida	2.3	2.2	4.9	5.4	6.0	10.3
Georgia	2.4	2.5	5.4	5.8	6.9	10.5
Hawaii	1.1	1.4	3.0	3.4	4.2	7.5
Idaho	0.9	2.0	3.9	4.0	4.6	7.8
Illinois	2.9	2.9	5.9	6.2	6.9	11.0
Indiana	1.3	2.3	4.5	4.7	5.3	8.3
Iowa	0.9	2.1	3.9	4.1	4.6	7.2
Kansas	1.4	2.2	4.2	4.4	5.0	8.2
Kentucky	2.0	2.3	4.9	5.5	6.0	9.7
Louisiana	2.6	3.0	6.2	6.8	7.5	10.7
Maine	1.6	1.9	3.9	4.2	4.8	8.7
Maryland	1.8	2.1	4.2	4.5	5.1	8.1
Massachusetts	1.7	2.0	3.7	4.2	5.0	8.1
Michigan	1.7	2.5	4.9	5.3	6.0	10.3
Minnesota	1.1	1.9	3.9	4.1	4.7	7.7
Mississippi	2.6	2.6	5.7	6.2	6.9	10.9
Missouri	1.8	2.3	4.4	4.7	5.2	7.8
Montana	1.4	2.2	4.2	4.5	5.1	8.5
Nebraska	1.2	1.5	3.4	3.4	4.0	6.2
Nevada	2.4	3.0	5.9	6.3	7.1	12.2
New Hampshire	1.0	1.5	2.8	3.0	3.6	6.4
New Jersey	2.4	2.9	4.9	5.4	6.0	9.7
New Mexico	2.5	3.2	6.8	7.3	8.1	12.6
New York	2.3	2.4	4.8	5.1	6.0	9.4
North Carolina	2.3	2.2	5.0	5.4	6.3	9.4
North Dakota	0.9	1.8	3.3	3.6	3.9	6.2
Ohio	2.0	2.2	4.9	5.2	6.0	9.7
Oklahoma	1.9	2.4	5.1	5.4	6.1	9.2
Oregon	1.5	2.3	4.9	5.2	6.0	10.3
Pennsylvania	2.1	2.9	5.6	5.9	6.7	10.6
Rhode Island	2.3	3.1	5.4	5.6	6.3	10.1
South Carolina	2.0	2.1	4.9	5.2	6.0	9.7
South Dakota	0.8	1.0	2.8	3.0	3.5	5.2
Tennessee	1.8	2.2	4.7	5.1	5.8	9.4
Texas	1.7	2.1	4.6	4.8	5.4	8.6
Utah	1.1	1.7	3.6	3.7	4.3	7.5
Vermont	0.9	1.6	3.3	3.4	4.2	7.1
Virginia	1.6	1.5	4.1	4.4	5.2	9.1
Washington	1.7	2.4	5.5	5.8	6.6	10.3
West Virginia	2.7	2.9	6.1	6.5	7.3	11.0
Wisconsin	1.5	2.3	4.1	4.3	4.8	7.9
Wyoming	1.8	3.5	5.4	5.7	6.1	10.1
Note: See table 1 for definitions of measures and related footnote information.