U-3

The BLS narrow U-3 unemployment rate is now 9.2%; it was 9.1% after the May report.

Max Fraad Wolff: June Jobs Blues Max Fraad Wolff 2011

Or, in Bureau of Labor Statistics parlance, the U-3 figure.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

Or, in Bureau of Labor Statistics parlance, the U-3 figure.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

On the 25 percent number, nobody knows for sure, but trying to take a guess backward, I would say the Great Depression rate mimicked the U-3 number.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

I get a little frustrated about the limitations of the U-3 because it doesn't include discouraged workers and part-time workers.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

I get a little frustrated about the limitations of the U-3 because it doesn't include discouraged workers and part-time workers.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

The reason headline U-3 unemployment held steady at 10% was because the labor force plunged by 661,000, the sharpest (discouraged worker) decline in nearly 15 years.

The Recession is Over, the Depression Just Beginning 2010

I get a little frustrated about the limitations of the U-3 because it doesn't include discouraged workers and part-time workers.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010

He estimates about 500,000 December job losses, not the sanitized U-3 number.

The Recession is Over, the Depression Just Beginning 2010

The U-3 official number does capture people who are actively looking, but it's really helpful and important to add in discouraged workers so it gives a fuller picture.

Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Keith Hall discusses unemployment data 2010