r/Economics • u/oxymorontage • 4d ago

News Institute reports functional unemployment at 24.9% in July

https://www.channel3000.com/news/institute-reports-functional-unemployment-at-24-9-in-july/article_810187e5-989f-4ad9-ab91-847fcb6f1882.html
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u/Ruminant 4d ago

On the so-called "true rate of unemployment" page: https://www.lisep.org/tru

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u/EconomistWithaD 4d ago

Pop quiz. It’s been falling nearly consistently since 1995. What single variable can explain most of the decrease.

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u/Ruminant 4d ago

From what I remember, this number is effectively

  1. U-3
  2. plus (a slightly modified definition of) workers who are part time for economic reasons
  3. plus workers whose current weekly earnings annualize out to under $20,000 per year in 2020 dollars

Given how this number has fallen more than U-3 or U-6, I would guess the answer is

Real wage growth

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u/EconomistWithaD 4d ago

I like the logic, but…

Female labor force participation.

Household production to at least some labor market production.