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Well this hasn't been a secret for a long, long time Basically what conservatives have been saying but the MSM has been ignoring for the last 6 years. U6 is the real number if you are interested in knowing how many people are not working that might want to be doing so
maxzen2004
The Bottom Line
While the alternative measures show very similar movements over the course of the business cycle, they differ significantly in magnitude from the official unemployment rate. The strict definition of unemployment under the official U-3 measure may result in understating the magnitude of the actual unemployment situation. It is therefore advisable to look beyond the headline (U-3) unemployment number, as it may not convey the whole story. The U-6 measure, by virtue of being the least restrictive and therefore the highest unemployment rate, may provide a truer picture of the degree of labor underutilization.
The government created U-1 to U-7 unemployment rates back in the mid 1990's, the official unemployment rate (U-3) filters out allot of people. The real unemployment rate is actually is about double, why does the media and government hide this?
Below are the links, the labor department burys these unemployment rates.
portalseven.com...
Click on U-1 thru U-6 below on the website link.
Definitions of U-1 thru U-6 below, do not click on them.
U-1, persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-2, job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force;
U-3, total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (this is the definition used for the official unemployment rate);
U-4, total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers;
U-5, total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other marginally attached workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers; and
U-6, total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers.
No wonder they say the unemployment is dropping, actually some of the unemployed are not fitting into the U-3 criteria so they are removed but our honest government calls it job creation.
edit on 14-3-2014 by maxzen2004 because: Clarification
greencmp
reply to post by maxzen2004
And if you consider the actual employees of the federal government as special cases of the unemployed as they cost so much more than a simple unemployed citizen and produce nothing for the economy, the real rate skyrockets further.