People without jobs who have actively looked in the last 4 weeks.
Total of all employed and unemployed people.
People who want a job but haven't looked in the last 4 weeks.
Involuntary part-time workers who want full-time work.
U-6 Unemployment Rate:0.00%
Standard (U-3) Unemployment Rate:0.00%
Total Underutilized Labor:0
Expanded Labor Force Base:0
function calculateU6Rate() {
// Get input values
var unemployed = parseFloat(document.getElementById('totalUnemployed').value);
var laborForce = parseFloat(document.getElementById('laborForce').value);
var marginallyAttached = parseFloat(document.getElementById('marginallyAttached').value);
var partTimeEco = parseFloat(document.getElementById('partTimeEconomic').value);
// Validation
if (isNaN(unemployed) || isNaN(laborForce) || isNaN(marginallyAttached) || isNaN(partTimeEco)) {
alert("Please enter valid numbers for all fields.");
return;
}
if (laborForce 0) {
u6Rate = (numerator / denominator) * 100;
}
// Display Results
document.getElementById('resU6Rate').innerHTML = u6Rate.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('resU3Rate').innerHTML = u3Rate.toFixed(2) + "%";
document.getElementById('resUnderutilized').innerHTML = numerator.toLocaleString();
document.getElementById('resExpandedBase').innerHTML = denominator.toLocaleString();
document.getElementById('resultsArea').style.display = "block";
}
How to Calculate U-6 Unemployment Rate: The Real Jobless Measure
When the news reports the unemployment rate, they are almost always referring to the U-3 rate. However, economists and financial analysts often look deeper to understand the true health of the labor market. The U-6 unemployment rate is considered the "real" or broader measure of labor underutilization because it captures discouraged workers and those stuck in part-time jobs who actually want full-time work.
What is the U-6 Unemployment Rate?
The U-6 rate is a metric provided by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) that accounts for:
Total Unemployed: People actively looking for work (the standard U-3 measure).
Marginally Attached Workers: Individuals not in the labor force who want and are available for work, and who have looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months, but were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. This includes "discouraged workers."
Part-Time for Economic Reasons: People employed part-time who would prefer full-time employment but cannot find it or have had their hours cut (often called involuntary part-time workers).
The U-6 Formula
To calculate the U-6 rate, you cannot simply divide the unemployed by the labor force. You must adjust both the numerator (the count of affected people) and the denominator (the pool of people typically measured). The formula is:
You need four specific data points, typically found in the BLS "Employment Situation" report (Table A-15):
Total Unemployed (U): The official count of jobless active seekers.
Civilian Labor Force (LF): The sum of all employed and unemployed people.
Marginally Attached (MA): Those who want to work but stopped looking recently.
Part-Time for Economic Reasons (PTER): Involuntary part-time workers.
Step 2: Calculate the Total Underutilized Labor
Sum up the unemployed, the marginally attached, and the involuntary part-time workers. This represents the total number of people who are not being fully utilized by the economy.
Numerator = U + MA + PTER
Step 3: Calculate the Expanded Labor Force Base
Add the marginally attached workers to the standard civilian labor force. Since marginally attached workers are technically not in the labor force, we add them back in to create a fair comparison.
Denominator = LF + MA
Step 4: Divide and Convert to Percentage
Divide the result of Step 2 by the result of Step 3, then multiply by 100 to get the percentage.
Example Calculation
Let's look at a hypothetical scenario to make this concrete:
In this example, while the standard U-3 unemployment rate would be 3.75% (6m/160m), the U-6 rate reveals that 7.43% of the potential labor force is struggling with underemployment.
Why Does U-6 Matter?
The U-6 rate provides a more comprehensive view of economic hardship. During recessions, the gap between U-3 and U-6 often widens. Even as the "official" unemployment rate recovers, the U-6 rate may remain high if companies are hiring people back only on a part-time basis or if many people remain too discouraged to actively search for work. Monitoring this metric is essential for policymakers and economists gauging the true slack in the labor market.