Actual jobless rate at 17.5%!
NEW YORK - November 23, 2009 - As we continue to travel along the Road to Depression, one figure looms large but is often overlooked: nearly 1 in 5 Amerikans is either out of work or underemployed.
According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5% are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.
The number dwarfs the statistic most people pay attention to - the U-3 rate - which most recently showed unemployment at 10.2% for October, the highest it has been since June 1983.
The difference is that what is traditionally referred to as the unemployment rate only measures those out of work who are still looking for jobs. Discouraged workers who have quit trying to find a job, as well as those working part-time but looking for full-time work or who are otherwise underemployed, count in the U-6 rate.
With such a large portion of Amerikans experiencing employment struggles, economists worry that an extended period of slow or flat growth lies ahead.
"There's no easy solution here," says Michael Pento, chief economist at Delta Global Advisors. "Unless you create another bubble in which the economy can create jobs, you're not going to have growth. That's the sad truth."
According to the government's broadest measure of unemployment, some 17.5% are either without a job entirely or underemployed. The so-called U-6 number is at the highest rate since becoming an official labor statistic in 1994.
The number dwarfs the statistic most people pay attention to - the U-3 rate - which most recently showed unemployment at 10.2% for October, the highest it has been since June 1983.
The difference is that what is traditionally referred to as the unemployment rate only measures those out of work who are still looking for jobs. Discouraged workers who have quit trying to find a job, as well as those working part-time but looking for full-time work or who are otherwise underemployed, count in the U-6 rate.
With such a large portion of Amerikans experiencing employment struggles, economists worry that an extended period of slow or flat growth lies ahead.
"There's no easy solution here," says Michael Pento, chief economist at Delta Global Advisors. "Unless you create another bubble in which the economy can create jobs, you're not going to have growth. That's the sad truth."
