For Immediate Release: Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

December marks the third anniversary of the start of the Great Recession. Even though the recession officially ended well over a year ago, unemployment as well as underemployment remain well above pre-recession levels. The current unemployment rate of 9.6% does not reflect the millions of people who are working part time because they cannot find full-time work, or those “marginally attached” workers who are able and want to work but are so discouraged they have given up looking. These three categories comprise the underemployed, and in October, the most recent month for which data are available, the official underemployment rate stood at 17%. Today’s Snapshot, from EPI’s forthcoming State of Working America Web site, shows how the number of unemployed, involuntary part-time, and marginally attached workers has changed since 1994.