All measures of unemployment improved in Washington 2012 | Bureau of Labor Statistics

Published 7:10 pm Sunday, April 7, 2013

The latest Measures of Labor Underutilization news release for Washington is now available from BLS (see attached document). Items of note include:

• In 2012, 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 16.9 percent in Washington, compared to the U.S. average of 14.7 percent.
• Washington had 288,400 unemployed residents in 2012, and another 242,100 were employed part time for economic reasons (also known as involuntary part time).
• 69,000 Washingtonians were marginally attached to the labor force in 2012. (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.)
• 14,800 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.

·         From 2011 to 2012, all six rates of labor underutilization improved in Washington.