U-3 vs U-6 Unemployment Rate
The headline U-3 rate counts only the jobless who are actively looking. U-6 also counts underemployed and marginally attached workers — a broader gauge of labor-market slack.
- U-3
- U-6
U-3 counts people who are jobless, available for work, and have actively looked in the past four weeks. U-6 adds two groups: people working part-time because they cannot find full-time work ("part-time for economic reasons") and people marginally attached to the labor force — they want a job and have looked in the past year but not in the past month.
U-6 typically runs 3–5 percentage points above U-3. The gap widens during and after recessions, when involuntary part-time work spikes, and narrows in hot labor markets when those workers convert to full-time employment. In the 2010s recovery the gap stayed wide until 2018; in the 2021–22 recovery it closed unusually fast, reflecting labor-market tightness that pulled part-timers into full-time jobs within months.
The BLS also publishes U-1 through U-2 and U-4 through U-5 at intermediate thresholds. The bracket that ranges from U-3 (headline) to U-6 (broadest) captures the distinction most worth tracking for policy and investment decisions.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between U-3 and U-6 unemployment?
U-3 is the headline rate — people who are jobless and have actively looked for work in the past four weeks. U-6 adds two groups U-3 misses: workers stuck in part-time jobs because they can't find full-time work, and people marginally attached to the labor force who want a job and have looked in the past year but not the past month. U-6 is the broader measure of labor-market slack.
Why does U-6 run so much higher than U-3?
U-6 typically runs 3–5 percentage points above U-3 because it captures underemployment and discouraged workers the headline rate excludes. The gap widens during and after recessions when involuntary part-time work spikes, and narrows in tight labor markets — in the 2021–22 recovery it closed unusually fast as part-timers converted to full-time jobs within months.
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