Why We Need a New Unemployment Rate

The unemployment rate is probably the single-most quoted statistic that measures the health of the economy. But over the years, there has been a great deal of confusion over whether the official unemployment rate (4.1 percent) reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) provides the best picture of joblessness in America.

If what we’re really trying to measure is a complete picture of involuntary joblessness, we need to look beyond the official unemployment rate and alarmist political rhetoric.

New Mercatus research by research fellow Michael Farren cuts through the confusion by offering a new, more comprehensive way to measure unemployment using the BLS’s own statistics.

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