U-6 Underemployment Rate

The BLS publishes six different measures of unemployment, labeled U-1 through U-6. The headline Unemployment Rate, U-3, counts only those who are actively looking for work. The broadest measure, U-6, adds workers who want a job but haven't searched recently, workers only marginally attached to the labor force, and workers part-time for economic reasons. The March 2026 reading is 8.0%.

The gap between U-3 and U-6 is a rough index of hidden slack. At 4.3% U-3 and 8.0% U-6, the gap is 3.7 percentage points — above the 2022 gap of roughly 3.1 points and below the 2009 crisis gap that exceeded 7 points. The ratio is currently about 1.86x. That ratio rises when underemployment rises faster than unemployment, which is what American Worker Index-adjacent labor distress typically looks like in its early stages.

U-6 leads U-3 modestly when the labor market turns, because underemployment builds before outright job loss. Initial Unemployment Claims validates a one-quarter lead into U-6 itself with r=0.72 across two prior crises — meaning when first-time filings rise, underemployment follows by about 90 days.

For households, U-6 is often the more honest number. A worker who has stopped looking because the market is dead or who is stuck in 25 hours a week isn't counted in the headline figure. They are counted here. If the question is how many Americans are not getting the work they need, 8.0% is closer to the truth than 4.3%.