Unemployment Rate Does Not Include The 'Missing Workers'

More than four years have passed since the Great Recession and still the unemployment rate remains at 7.3 percent.

But in today’s labor market, the unemployment rate drastically understates the scarce availability of jobs.

The unemployment rate does not count “missing workers” — these are potential workers who have either given up looking for work or aren’t working. Rather, it is a measure of those who are still actively seeking employment.

The Economic Policy Institute has taken on the task of trying to fill in those gaps in unemployment numbers by releasing their own unemployment report.

Guest

• Heidi Moore, U.S. finance and economics editor for The Guardian. She tweets @moorehn.

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