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The more accurate U-6 figure is broader, including:
(1) "Marginally attached workers: people wanting jobs but not actively looking in the past 30 days, but have looked unsuccessfully in the last year." This category also includes "discouraged workers" who completely gave up in frustration within, but not exceeding, the past 12 months.
(2) People looking for full-time work but forced to take part-time or temporary jobs to be employed.
John Williams provides the most reliable monthly data on his Shadowstats.com web site. He reports current U-3 unemployment at 9.0% and U-6 15.9%. He calculates the true figure at 22.3%, what he calls his "Official SGS Alternative Unemployment Rate" by adding uncounted long-term (one year or more) discouraged workers to BLS U-6 figures.
Like Williams, economist Jim Fitzgibbon calls the U-3 calculation "worthless," adding, "the entire (BLS) report is seasonally adjusted to be positive, while the non-adjusted data is just awful." That's why BLS conceals it.
In fact, the latest jobs report showed virtually no gain and earlier in the year positive numbers concealed losses. At best, job creation is stillborn, not positive but don't expect official Washington or media pundits to explain.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at Email address removed. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.
http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/ .
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