The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate was 6.2 percent in July—but does that rate tell the real story?
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A number of economists look past the "main" unemployment rate to a different figure the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "U-6," which it defines as "total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers."
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In other words, the unemployed, the underemployed and the discouraged—a rate that still remains high.
The U-6 rate rose slightly in July to 12.2 percent. While it is down 170 basis points over the last year, the trend has been somewhat more volatile than in the main unemployment rate, which steadily declined.
Over the last two years, the U-6 rate has changed by at least four-tenths of a point from month to month at least five times.
—By CNBC