Reply #5: Six Unemployment Rates - Article From One Year Ago on U1 - U6

[mhr]

http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascitystar/business/5962629.htm?1c

Unemployment: It depends on how you define it
May 29, 2003
DIANE STAFFORD

You've been out of work for 18 months and know 15 others who are vainly job hunting.
You suspect that the 5.8 percent unemployment figure for April is government propaganda.

In your world, things are much worse off. And, guess what, in your
world, you're right.

The "real" unemployment rate for you is 9.8 percent. You can look it up.
It's every bit as real as the 5.8 percent that was reported in the media. So what's the deal?

The deal is that there are six government-sanctioned definitions of
unemployment. The six measures produce a broad range of unemployment
numbers. For April 2003, the range was a scant 2.5 percent to a scary
9.8 percent.

One of the midrange numbers, dubbed U-3 and defined as "total
unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force," is the official
unemployment rate.

Snip ......