News Release Information
12-1726-DAL
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Contacts
Further information:
- (972) 850-4800
- BLSInfoDallas@bls.gov
- www.bls.gov/ro6
Measures of Labor Underutilization in Louisiana – 2011
In 2011, the broadest measure of labor underutilization, designated U-6 (includes the unemployed,
workers employed part-time for economic reasons, and the marginally attached to the labor force), was
13.4 percent in Louisiana, up from 12.9 percent in 2010, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported
today. (See table 1.) Regional Commissioner Stanley W. Suchman noted that the 2011 annual average
was 6.2 percentage points above the rate in 2007 when the national recession began. (See chart 1.)
Nationally, the U-6 rate averaged 15.9 percent in 2011.
The official concept of unemployment (U-3 in the U-1 to U-6 range of measures) includes all jobless
persons who are available to take a job and have actively sought work in the past four weeks. (The
official measure of unemployment in states is derived using a statistical model that incorporates data
from the Current Population Survey [CPS] and other sources, and this model-based estimate can differ
from the direct CPS estimate.) In Louisiana, 7.8 percent of the labor force was unemployed, as measured
by the CPS, in 2011. By comparison, 8.9 percent were jobless nationwide.
Louisiana had 160,100 unemployed residents in 2011 according to the Current Population Survey. Another 82,000 were employed part time for economic reasons (also known as involuntary part time). These individuals were working part time because of slack work or business conditions or because they were unable to find a full-time job. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, there were 8.6 million individuals working part time for economic reasons in 2011.
In 2011, the number of individuals considered to be marginally attached to the labor force in Louisiana
reached 37,300. People marginally attached to the labor force are not working, but indicate that they
would like to work, are available to work, and have looked for work at some time during the past 12
months, even though they had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey for reasons
such as school attendance or family responsibilities. In the United States, the number marginally
attached totaled 2.6 million in 2011.
Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, are persons who are not currently looking for
work because they believe no jobs are available for them. In 2011, there were 13,600 discouraged
workers in Louisiana, accounting for more than one-third of all marginally attached workers in the state.
The U-4 measure, which adds discouraged workers to the number of the unemployed (expressed as
percentage of the labor force plus the number of discouraged workers), was 8.4 percent in Louisiana in
2011 compared with 9.5 percent nationwide.
From 2010 to 2011, the rates of labor underutilization trended down for the United States, but were
mixed for Louisiana. The U-3 rate was unchanged in the state from 2010 to 2011, while the U-1, U-5,
and U-6 rates rose and the U-2 and U-4 rates fell.
State comparisons
Nevada registered the highest rates for all six measures of labor underutilization among the 50 states in
2011, ranging from a U-2 of 8.5 percent to a U-6 of 22.7 percent. (See table 2.) Other states with high
U-6 rates included California (21.1 percent), Michigan (18.8 percent), and Rhode Island (18.6 percent).
Nevada, California, and Rhode Island also had the highest CPS-based (U-3) unemployment rates,
averaging 13.1, 11.6, and 11.1 percent, respectively. States with high CPS-based unemployment rates
tended to have high values for the other five measures.
Similarly, states with low U-3 rates usually recorded low values for the other measures. North Dakota
had the lowest rates for all six measures, including a U-6 of 6.6 percent, a U-3 of 3.6 percent, and a U-1
of 1.2 percent. Only two other states, Nebraska and South Dakota, registered U-6 rates below 10.0
percent, at 8.9 and 9.3 percent, respectively.
In 2011, 38 states had all six measures of underutilization decrease over the year. Three states had U-6
rates that decreased by at least 2.0 percentage points from 2010 to 2011: Oregon (-2.5 points), and
Michigan and Ohio (each -2.2 points). Among the states with the highest U-6 rates in 2011 (Nevada,
California, Michigan, and Rhode Island), the U-6 rate in each state declined from the previous year.
The U-6 rates rose in six states and the District of Columbia from 2010 to 2011, including Louisiana.
The District of Columbia had the largest U-6 increase, up 1.8 percentage points to 15.8 percent.
Technical Note
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) produces six measures of labor underutilization based on
Current Population Survey (CPS) data. Monthly, the BLS publishes these six measures for the United
States in the Employment Situation news release. (See www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm).
State estimates, presented as 4-quarter moving averages, are provided each quarter on the BLS Website.
(For the most recent data see www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm.)
The civilian labor force is the sum of employed and unemployed persons. Those not classified as
employed or unemployed are not in the labor force. The unemployment rate is the number unemployed
as a percent of the labor force.
People are classified as employed if they did any work at all as paid employees during the reference
week; worked in their own business, profession, or on their own farm; or worked without pay at least 15
hours in a family business or farm. People are also counted as employed if they were temporarily absent
from their jobs because of illness, bad weather, vacation, labor-management disputes, or personal
reasons.
People are classified as unemployed if they meet all of the following criteria: they had no employment
during the reference week; they were available for work at that time; and they made specific efforts to
find employment sometime during the 4-week period ending with the reference week. Persons laid off
from a job and expecting recall need not be looking for work to be counted as unemployed. The
unemployment data derived from the household survey in no way depend upon the eligibility for or
receipt of unemployment insurance benefits. The official concept of unemployment (as measured in the
CPS) is equivalent to the U-3 in the U-1 to U-6 range of measures. The other measures are provided to
data users and analysts who want more narrowly (U-1 and U-2) or broadly (U-4 through U-6) defined
measures. BLS updates these measures for each state on a 4-quarter moving-average basis.
The measures for states are analyzed on a 4-quarter average basis in order to increase the reliability of the
CPS estimates, which are based on relatively small sample sizes at the state level, and to eliminate
seasonality. Due to the inclusion of lagged quarters, the state measures may not fully reflect the current
status of the labor market. For additional information on state estimates derived directly from the CPS,
see www.bls.gov/gps/notescps.htm.
Data are calculated from quarterly tables in which the components of each measure are rounded to the
nearest hundred. As a result, these measures contain slightly more rounding error than that found in
typical CPS annual average tabulations (in which rates are calculated based on unrounded data). Due to
small state sample sizes, neither monthly nor quarterly state data from the CPS satisfy BLS publication
standards.
Note that the unemployment rates (U-3) in this release are derived directly from the CPS, because this is
the only source of data for the various components of the alternative measures. As a result, these U-3
measures may differ from the official state unemployment rates for the same period. The latter are
estimates developed from statistical models that greatly improve the reliability of the top-side labor force
and unemployment estimates. Those models, developed by the Local Area Unemployment Statistics
(LAUS) program, incorporate CPS estimates, as well as input data from other sources. The model-based
estimates are accessible through the LAUS home page at www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm.
The level (that is, number of persons) estimates reflect independent population estimates for each year.
Because these population controls are not revised, level estimates between years are not fully
comparable. However, the application of new population controls generally does not affect ratios or
proportions, such as U-1 through U-6.
Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice
phone: 202-691-5200; TDD message referral phone number: 1-800-877-8339.
Measure | Louisiana | United States | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | |
U-1 Persons unemployed 15 weeks or longer, as a percent of the civilian labor force |
2.6 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 4.7 | 5.7 | 5.3 |
U-2 Job losers and persons who completed temporary jobs, as a percent of the civilian labor force |
4.1 | 4.3 | 3.5 | 5.9 | 6.0 | 5.3 |
U-3 Total unemployed, as a percent of the civilian labor force (official concept of unemployment (1)) |
7.1 | 7.8 | 7.8 | 9.3 | 9.6 | 8.9 |
U-4 Total unemployed plus discouraged workers, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus discouraged workers(2) |
7.6 | 8.5 | 8.4 | 9.7 | 10.3 | 9.5 |
U-5 Total unemployed, plus discouraged workers, plus all other persons marginally attached to the labor force, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force2 |
8.2 | 9.3 | 9.5 | 10.5 | 11.1 | 10.4 |
U-6 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 force2 |
10.6 | 12.9 | 13.4 | 16.2 | 16.7 | 15.9 |
Footnotes: |
State | Measure | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U-1 | U-2 | U-3 | U-4 | U-5 | U-6 | |
United States |
5.3 | 5.3 | 8.9 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 15.9 |
Alabama |
6.1 | 5.4 | 9.8 | 10.6 | 11.6 | 16.2 |
Alaska |
2.8 | 4.2 | 7.6 | 8.1 | 9.1 | 13.5 |
Arizona |
5.9 | 5.2 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 11.2 | 18.0 |
Arkansas |
4.4 | 4.8 | 8.6 | 9.2 | 9.9 | 14.1 |
California |
7.0 | 7.0 | 11.6 | 12.3 | 13.4 | 21.1 |
Colorado |
4.7 | 5.2 | 8.4 | 8.7 | 9.5 | 15.1 |
Connecticut |
5.6 | 5.7 | 8.9 | 9.6 | 10.4 | 15.4 |
Delaware |
4.4 | 4.6 | 7.5 | 8.1 | 8.8 | 13.2 |
District of Columbia |
6.7 | 5.0 | 10.4 | 11.1 | 12.4 | 15.8 |
Florida |
6.7 | 6.2 | 10.0 | 10.8 | 11.6 | 17.6 |
Georgia |
6.3 | 5.8 | 10.1 | 10.8 | 11.8 | 17.1 |
Hawaii |
4.5 | 4.2 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 9.0 | 15.1 |
Idaho |
4.4 | 4.9 | 8.7 | 9.1 | 9.9 | 16.1 |
Illinois |
6.1 | 6.2 | 9.7 | 10.2 | 10.9 | 17.0 |
Indiana |
5.7 | 5.2 | 9.0 | 9.6 | 10.3 | 15.7 |
Iowa |
2.6 | 3.2 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.7 | 11.3 |
Kansas |
3.5 | 3.9 | 6.7 | 7.0 | 7.8 | 12.1 |
Kentucky |
5.1 | 5.7 | 9.5 | 10.0 | 10.7 | 15.6 |
Louisiana |
4.0 | 3.5 | 7.8 | 8.4 | 9.5 | 13.4 |
Maine |
4.1 | 4.6 | 8.0 | 8.5 | 9.5 | 15.1 |
Maryland |
4.0 | 4.2 | 7.0 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 12.6 |
Massachusetts |
4.3 | 4.8 | 7.3 | 7.8 | 8.7 | 14.3 |
Michigan |
6.1 | 6.0 | 10.2 | 11.1 | 12.3 | 18.8 |
Minnesota |
3.3 | 3.6 | 6.5 | 6.8 | 7.6 | 12.8 |
Mississippi |
6.3 | 5.9 | 10.5 | 11.1 | 12.0 | 16.4 |
Missouri |
4.9 | 4.6 | 8.4 | 8.8 | 9.5 | 14.4 |
Montana |
3.1 | 4.6 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 8.6 | 15.3 |
Nebraska |
2.0 | 2.3 | 4.5 | 4.7 | 5.2 | 8.9 |
Nevada |
8.7 | 8.5 | 13.1 | 14.0 | 15.5 | 22.7 |
New Hampshire |
2.6 | 3.2 | 5.4 | 5.8 | 6.5 | 11.3 |
New Jersey |
6.2 | 6.4 | 9.4 | 10.1 | 11.0 | 16.0 |
New Mexico |
4.3 | 3.6 | 7.4 | 7.9 | 9.6 | 14.7 |
New York |
5.0 | 4.9 | 8.1 | 9.0 | 9.9 | 14.3 |
North Carolina |
6.5 | 6.4 | 10.5 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 17.9 |
North Dakota |
1.2 | 1.5 | 3.6 | 3.7 | 4.2 | 6.6 |
Ohio |
5.1 | 5.1 | 8.7 | 9.0 | 9.8 | 14.7 |
Oklahoma |
2.8 | 2.9 | 6.2 | 6.8 | 7.8 | 10.7 |
Oregon |
5.3 | 5.8 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 10.9 | 17.5 |
Pennsylvania |
4.2 | 4.8 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 13.9 |
Rhode Island |
7.0 | 6.9 | 11.1 | 11.7 | 12.7 | 18.6 |
South Carolina |
6.6 | 6.4 | 10.5 | 11.4 | 12.4 | 18.2 |
South Dakota |
1.8 | 2.1 | 4.9 | 5.4 | 6.1 | 9.3 |
Tennessee |
5.1 | 5.2 | 9.2 | 9.6 | 10.5 | 15.5 |
Texas |
3.9 | 4.1 | 7.8 | 8.3 | 9.1 | 14.0 |
Utah |
3.2 | 4.0 | 7.0 | 7.3 | 8.1 | 13.3 |
Vermont |
2.5 | 3.6 | 5.8 | 6.1 | 6.8 | 11.6 |
Virginia |
3.9 | 3.6 | 6.5 | 6.9 | 7.6 | 11.8 |
Washington |
5.1 | 5.4 | 9.4 | 9.9 | 11.2 | 17.8 |
West Virginia |
4.6 | 4.1 | 8.1 | 8.6 | 9.3 | 13.7 |
Wisconsin |
4.2 | 4.3 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 9.0 | 14.2 |
Wyoming |
2.4 | 2.9 | 5.9 | 6.2 | 6.7 | 10.6 |
NOTE: See table 1 for definitions of measures and related footnote information. |
Last Modified Date: August 23, 2012