∙ U.S. Involuntary Part-Time Workers, Marginally Attached Workers, and Discouraged Workers

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Involuntary Part-Time Workers: The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons (sometimes referred to as involuntary part-time workers) edged up to 8.1 million over the month. These individuals were working part time because their hours had been cut back or because they were unable to find a full-time job. This chart shows the difference between the official U.S. unemployment rate [total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force] and an alternative measure of labor underutilization [total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force]: Click on chart to enlarge Marginally Attached Workers: In May, 2.4 million persons were marginally attached to the labor force, up from 2.2 million a year earlier. (NSA) These individuals were not in the labor force, wanted and were available for work, and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months. They were not counted as unemployed because they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. Discouraged Workers: Among the marginally attached, there were 830,000 discouraged workers, about the same as a year earlier. (NSA) Discouraged workers are persons not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. The remaining 1.6 million persons marginally attached to the labor force had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons such as school attendance or family responsibilities. USDOL

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