Feds: Oregon had 90,000 ‘involuntary part-time’ workers in 2016

When those monthly unemployment reports come out every month, online commenters often claim they don’t tell the “real” number – those stuck working part-time, or who have given up looking for work for a variety of reasons.

There’s an element of truth to that — but the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics tracks far more than just one number, as noted in Friday’s news release that headlined Oregon last year had more than 90,000 “involuntary part-time workers.”

Here’s some other items of note in the report:

In 2016, 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 10.3 percent in Oregon, compared to the U.S. average of 9.6 percent. Oregon had 101,200 unemployed residents in 2016, and another 91,200 were employed part time for economic reasons (also known as involuntary part time). 22,900 Oregonians were marginally attached to the labor force in 2016. (Marginally attached individuals would like a job and have looked for work during the past 12 months, but had not searched for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey and are therefore not counted as unemployed in the official unemployment rate.) 6,300 discouraged workers (a subset of the marginally attached) did not look for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey because they believed no jobs were available for them.

Here’s the full release:

Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization, Oregon – 2016

In 2016, the broadest measure of labor underutilization, designated U-6 (which includes the unemployed, workers employed part time for economic reasons, and those marginally attached to the labor force), was 10.3 percent in Oregon, not significantly different from the 9.6-percent rate for the nation, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Assistant Commissioner for Regional Operations Richard Holden noted that 5 of the 6 alternative measures of labor underutilization in Oregon were not statistically different from the rates recorded in 2015. The U-1 measure had a significant over-the-year decline. Nationally, all six measures had significant over-the-year declines. (See table 1.)

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 4 weeks. In Oregon, 4.9 percent of the labor force was unemployed as measured by U-3 in 2016, equal to the national rate. (See chart 1.) (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 discussed here.)

Oregon had 101,200 unemployed residents in 2016 according to the CPS. In addition, there were 91,200 workers who 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 5.9 million individuals working part time for economic reasons in 2016.

n 2016, the number of individuals considered to be marginally attached to the labor force in Oregon was 22,900. 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. In the United States, the number marginally attached totaled 1.8 million in 2016.

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 2016, there were 6,300 discouraged workers in Oregon, accounting for about 28 percent of all marginally attached workers in the state. The U-4 measure, which adds discouraged workers to the number of the unemployed (expressed as a percentage of the labor force plus the number of discouraged workers), was 5.2 percent in Oregon in 2016, equal to the national rate.

State comparisons

In 2016, South Dakota had the lowest rates for four alternative measures of labor underutilization: U-1, U-2, U-5, and U-6. New Hampshire and South Dakota had the lowest rates for U-3 and U-4. In total, nine states had rates notably lower than those of the U.S. for all six measures, while four states (California, Illinois, Louisiana, and New Mexico) had rates substantially higher than those of the U.S. for all six measures. (See table 2.)

Relative to 2015, three states (California, Massachusetts, and South Carolina) experienced notable decreases in all six measures of labor underutilization. For each measure, at least eight states showed considerable improvement over the year. Wyoming had appreciable increases in all six measures over the year, ranging from +0.8 percentage point in U-1 to +1.9 points in U-6. No other state had a noteworthy increase in any of the six measures.

Many states with extreme measures, either low or high, maintained their general place in the rankings of alternative measures over the year. Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, and Vermont had rates among the 10 lowest for each measure in 2015 and 2016. Similarly, Nevada, New Mexico, and West Virginia had rates among the 10 highest for each measure in both years.

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 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm.) State estimates, presented as 4-quarter averages, are provided each quarter on the BLS website. (For the most recent data see https://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm.)

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.

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.

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 annual average unemployment rates. 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 https://www.bls.gov/lau/home.htm.

Information in this release will be made available to sensory impaired individuals upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Federal Relay Service: (800) 877-8339.