The unemployment rate is vastly understating weakness in today's labor market: Unemployment rate, actual and if missing workers* were looking for work, January 2006–April 2017

Date Actual If missing workers were looking for work
2006-01-01 4.7% 5.1%
2006-02-01 4.8% 4.9%
2006-03-01 4.7% 4.8%
2006-04-01 4.7% 4.9%
2006-05-01 4.6% 4.7%
2006-06-01 4.6% 4.7%
2006-07-01 4.7% 4.8%
2006-08-01 4.7% 4.6%
2006-09-01 4.5% 4.6%
2006-10-01 4.4% 4.3%
2006-11-01 4.5% 4.3%
2006-12-01 4.4% 4.0%
2007-01-01 4.6% 4.2%
2007-02-01 4.5% 4.2%
2007-03-01 4.4% 4.1%
2007-04-01 4.5% 4.7%
2007-05-01 4.4% 4.6%
2007-06-01 4.6% 4.6%
2007-07-01 4.7% 4.7%
2007-08-01 4.6% 5.0%
2007-09-01 4.7% 4.8%
2007-10-01 4.7% 5.0%
2007-11-01 4.7% 4.6%
2007-12-01 5.0% 4.8%
2008-01-01 5.0% 4.5%
2008-02-01 4.9% 4.7%
2008-03-01 5.1% 4.8%
2008-04-01 5.0% 4.8%
2008-05-01 5.4% 5.0%
2008-06-01 5.6% 5.2%
2008-07-01 5.8% 5.4%
2008-08-01 6.1% 5.7%
2008-09-01 6.1% 5.9%
2008-10-01 6.5% 6.2%
2008-11-01 6.8% 6.6%
2008-12-01 7.3% 7.1%
2009-01-01 7.8% 7.8%
2009-02-01 8.3% 8.2%
2009-03-01 8.7% 8.8%
2009-04-01 9.0% 8.9%
2009-05-01 9.4% 9.3%
2009-06-01 9.5% 9.4%
2009-07-01 9.5% 9.5%
2009-08-01 9.6% 9.8%
2009-09-01 9.8% 10.5%
2009-10-01 10.0% 10.8%
2009-11-01 9.9% 10.7%
2009-12-01 9.9% 11.1%
2010-01-01 9.8% 10.8%
2010-02-01 9.8% 10.7%
2010-03-01 9.9% 10.6%
2010-04-01 9.9% 10.4%
2010-05-01 9.6% 10.4%
2010-06-01 9.4% 10.4%
2010-07-01 9.4% 10.5%
2010-08-01 9.5% 10.4%
2010-09-01 9.5% 10.5%
2010-10-01 9.4% 10.8%
2010-11-01 9.8% 10.9%
2010-12-01 9.3% 10.7%
2011-01-01 9.1% 10.6%
2011-02-01 9.0% 10.6%
2011-03-01 9.0% 10.4%
2011-04-01 9.1% 10.5%
2011-05-01 9.0% 10.6%
2011-06-01 9.1% 10.7%
2011-07-01 9.0% 10.8%
2011-08-01 9.0% 10.4%
2011-09-01 9.0% 10.5%
2011-10-01 8.8% 10.3%
2011-11-01 8.6% 10.1%
2011-12-01 8.5% 10.0%
2012-01-01 8.3% 9.9%
2012-02-01 8.3% 9.8%
2012-03-01 8.2% 9.7%
2012-04-01 8.2% 9.9%
2012-05-01 8.2% 9.7%
2012-06-01 8.2% 9.5%
2012-07-01 8.2% 9.8%
2012-08-01 8.1% 9.7%
2012-09-01 7.8% 9.3%
2012-10-01 7.8% 9.0%
2012-11-01 7.7% 9.2%
2012-12-01 7.9% 9.1%
2013-01-01 8.0% 9.4%
2013-02-01 7.7% 9.3%
2013-03-01 7.5% 9.3%
2013-04-01 7.6% 9.2%
2013-05-01 7.5% 9.1%
2013-06-01 7.5% 9.1%
2013-07-01 7.3% 9.0%
2013-08-01 7.3% 9.0%
2013-09-01 7.3% 9.0%
2013-10-01 7.2% 9.4%
2013-11-01 6.9% 8.9%
2013-12-01 6.7% 8.8%
2014-01-01 6.6% 8.6%
2014-02-01 6.7% 8.6%
2014-03-01 6.7% 8.3%
2014-04-01 6.2% 8.4%
2014-05-01 6.2% 8.3%
2014-06-01 6.1% 8.1%
2014-07-01 6.2% 8.1%
2014-08-01 6.2% 8.0%
2014-09-01 6.0% 7.9%
2014-10-01 5.7% 7.5%
2014-11-01 5.8% 7.6%
2014-12-01 5.6% 7.5%
2015-01-01 5.7% 7.4%
2015-02-01 5.5% 7.4%
2015-03-01 5.5% 7.4%
2015-04-01 5.4% 7.3%
2015-05-01 5.5% 7.2%
2015-06-01 5.3% 7.3%
2015-07-01 5.3% 7.3%
2015-08-01 5.1% 7.2%
2015-09-01 5.1% 7.4%
2015-10-01 5.0% 7.1%
2015-11-01 5.0% 7.0%
2015-12-01 5.0% 6.7%
2016-01-01 4.9% 6.6%
2016-02-01 4.9% 6.4%
2016-03-01 5.0% 6.3%
2016-04-01 5.0% 6.5%
2016-05-01 4.7% 6.5%
2016-06-01 4.9% 6.5%
2016-07-01 4.9% 6.2%
2016-08-01 4.9% 6.2%
2016-09-01 4.9% 6.1%
2016-10-01 4.8% 6.1%
2016-11-01 4.6% 6.0%
2016-12-01 4.7% 6.1%
2017-01-01 4.8% 5.9%
2017-02-01 4.7% 5.6%
2017-03-01 4.5% 5.3%
2017-04-01 4.4% 5.2%

 

* Potential workers who, due to weak job opportunities, are neither employed nor actively seeking work

Source: EPI analysis of Current Population Survey public data series

View the underlying data on epi.org.