Functional Unemployment Declines in August After Four Months of Increases
The Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP) reported a slight decline in functional unemployment in August, reversing four consecutive months of increases. The True Rate of Unemployment (TRU), which includes the jobless, involuntarily part-time workers, and those earning poverty wages, dropped from 24.9% to 24.3%. While this marks an improvement, it remains higher than January's rate of 23.9%. In contrast, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported a stable headline unemployment rate at 4.1% for August. LISEP also noted that its TRU Out of the Population measure decreased by 0.6 percentage points to 53.2%, aligning with an improving labor force participation rate from BLS data. The report highlighted mixed trends across demographic groups, including a decline in functional unemployment among women and minimal changes for racial demographics. LISEP Chairman Gene Ludwig emphasized the importance of continued improvement and broader economic security for workers. LISEP aims to provide more comprehensive insights into employment conditions than traditional metrics by focusing on low- and middle-income households.
