Bookmark this site
Beyond the marginally attached, who are included in U-5, involuntary part-time workers are included in U-6. The larger the difference between U-6 and U-5, then, the higher the incidence of underemployment. Oregon and California posted the largest gaps between their U-6 and U-5 rates, +7.8 and +7.6 percentage points, respectively. These two states also had among the five highest CPS-based unemployment rates over the 4-quarter average period. Louisiana registered the smallest difference between its U-6 and U-5, +2.4 percentage points, indicating a comparatively low degree of underemployment.
Though these data pertain to the 4-quarter average period ending in September 2009, the deterioration in the labor market between the fourth quarter of 2008 and the second quarter of 2009 was so rapid and pronounced that many of these measures understate the current degree of labor market underutilization.
