The Labor Department said Friday the unemployment rate remained flat at 5.3 percent in July—but does that tell the real story?
Many economists look beyond the "main" unemployment rate to other figures that give a more textured view of the economy. On jobs day, the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts out a slew of data that show various aspects of the nation's employment situation.
One is the U-6 rate. The BLS defines U-6 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.
In other words, the unemployed, the underemployed and the discouraged—a rate that remains above precrisis levels.