Here is an overview of these six
measures.
* U1: This is the proportion of the civilian
labor force that has been unemployed for 15 weeks or longer. This
unemployment rate measures workers who are chronically unemployed.
During business-cycle expansions, this rate captures structural
unemployment. However, during lengthy business-cycle contractions,
this rate is also likely to include a significant amount of
cyclical unemployment. U1 tends to be relatively small, in the
range of 1-2 percent.
* U2: This is the proportion of the
civilian labor force that is classified as job losers (workers who
have been involuntarily fired or laid off from their jobs) and
people who have completed temporary jobs. During business-cycle
expansions, this rate is likely to capture some degree of
frictional unemployment. However, during business-cycle
contractions, this rate is most likely to consist of cyclical
unemployment. U2 is larger than U1, but still remains
substantially less than the official unemployment rate (U3).
*
U3: This is the official unemployment rate, which is the
proportion of the civilian labor force that is unemployed but
actively seeking employment.
* U4: This is the official
unemployment rate that is adjusted for discouraged workers. In
other words, discouraged workers are treated just like other
workers who are officially classified as unemployed, being
included in both the ranks of the unemployed and the labor force.
It is technically specified as the proportion of the civilian
labor force (plus discouraged workers) that is either unemployed
but actively seeking employment or discouraged workers. The
addition of discouraged workers generally adds a few tenths of a
percentage point to the official unemployment rate.
* U5:
This augments U4 by including marginally-attached workers to the
unemployment rate calculation. Marginally attached workers are
potential workers who have given up seeking employment for various
reasons. One of these reasons is that the workers believe such
effort would be futile, which places them in the discouraged
worker category. Those who have other reasons for not seeking
employment are placed in the broader marginally-attached workers
category. The addition of marginally-attached workers adds a few
more tenths of a percentage point to the official unemployment
rate.
* U6: This augments U5 by including part-time workers
to the unemployment rate calculation. The addition of part-time
workers adds a full 2-3 percentage points to the official
unemployment rate. This measure of unemployment is perhaps the
most comprehensive measure of labor resource unemployment
available.
http://www.amosweb.com/cgi-bin/awb_nav.pl?s=wpd&c=dsp&k...
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The Bureau of Labor
Statistics measures employment and unemployment (of those over 15
years of age) using two different labor force surveys<22>
conducted by the United States Census Bureau (within the United
States Department of Commerce) and/or the Bureau of Labor
Statistics (within the United States Department of Labor) that
gather employment statistics monthly. The Current Population
Survey (CPS), or "Household Survey", conducts a survey
based on a sample of 60,000 households. This Survey measures the
unemployment rate based on the ILO definition.<23>The data
is also used to calculate 5 other unemployment rates as a
percentage of the labor force based on different definitions noted
as U1 through U6:<24>
* U1: Percentage of labor force
unemployed 15 weeks or longer.
* U2: Percentage of labor force
who lost jobs or completed temporary work.
* U3: Official
unemployment rate per ILO definition.
* U4: U3 + "discouraged
workers", or those who have stopped looking for work because
current economic conditions make them believe that no work is
available for them.
* U5: U4 + other "marginally attached
workers", or those who "would like" and are able to
work, but have not looked for work recently.
* U6: U5 + Part
time workers who want to work full time, but can not due to
economic reasons.
Note: "Marginally attached workers"
are added to the total labor force for unemployment rate
calculation for U4, U5, and U6.
The Current Employment
Statistics survey (CES), or "Payroll Survey", conducts a
survey based on a sample of 160,000 businesses and government
agencies that represent 400,000 individual employers.<25>
This survey measures only nonagricultural, nonsupervisory
employment; thus, it does not calculate an unemployment rate, and
it differs from the ILO unemployment rate definition. These two
sources have different classification criteria, and usually
produce differing results. Additional data is also available from
the government, such as the unemployment insurance weekly claims
report available from the Office of Workforce Security, within the
U.S. Department of Labor Employment & Training
Administration.<26>
These statistics are for the U.S.
economy as a whole, hiding variations among groups. For January
2008 in the U.S. the unemployment rates were 4.4% for adult men,
4.2% for adult women, 4.4% for Caucasians, 6.3% for Hispanics or
Latinos (all races), 9.2% for African Americans, 3.2% for Asian
Americans, and 18.0% for teenagers.<25>
These
percentages represent the usual rough ranking of these different
groups' unemployment rates. The absolute numbers change over time
and with the business cycle. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
provides up-to-date numbers via a pdf linked here. The BLS also
provides a readable concise current Employment Situation Summary,
updated monthly.<27>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unemployment