Two measures of unemployment Labor underutilization rates, Jan. '94-Jan. 17 (seasonally adjusted) 20%
All that extra data enables the BLS to calculate six different measures of labor underutilization, labeled U-1 through U-6, with broader or narrower parameters than the official unemployment rate (which is known as U-3). The broadest, U-6, includes all “marginally attached” workers (including discouraged workers) and involuntary part-time workers. The seasonally adjusted U-6 rate stood at 9.4% in January; since 1994 it has ranged from 6.8% (in October 2000) to 17.1% (most recently in April 2010). While the U-6 typically runs anywhere from 3 to 7 percentage points higher than the regular unemployment rate, with the gap wider during recessions and narrower in good economic times, it tends to follow the same pattern as the official unemployment rate.
Two measures of unemployment  | Labor underutilization rates, Jan. '94-Jan. 17  | (seasonally adjusted)  | 20%  | Recession  | 15  | U-6 unemployment rate  | 10  | 4.8%  | 5  | Official unemployment rate (U-3)  | Recession  | '94  | '96 '98 '00 '02 '04  | 06 08 10 '12  | 114 16  | Note: The U-6 rate, the government's broa dest measure of labor underutilization.  | includes all unemployed all discouraged workers and others marginally attached  | to Source: the labor force and all Statistics people working part time for economic reasons  | Source: Bureau of Labor Statistics  | PEW RESEARCH CENTER 