U.S. Unemployment Rate Rises, Underemployment Falling — Gallup
The most recent Gallup unemployment survey reported that the unadjusted U.S. unemployment rate in mid-August rose from 8.2% at the end of July to 8.3%. The polling firm’s seasonally adjusted rate also rose from 8% in July to 8.3% in…
There was some good news from the survey though. Gallup found that the underemployment rate, which combines part-time workers seeking full-time jobs with the unemployed, has been dropping since April. Gallup attributes the drop to an increase in the number of part-time workers who have found full-time employment. Since May the underemployment rate has dropped by 1%, and Gallup concludes:
Given that the size of the workforce has not declined during the same period, this is a positive sign that in recent months more Americans working part time have found the full-time employment they desire. … While employers are not hiring at rates substantial enough to reduce the unemployment rate, it does appear that they are making full-time opportunities available to part-time workers. Many employers have been hesitant to convert part-time positions to full time as they waited to see how the economic recovery would play out. Unemployment remains a chronic problem, but the decline in the underemployment rate may be a positive sign for hiring in the coming months.
Paul Ausick
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Paul Ausick has been writing for 247Wallst.com for more than a decade. He has written extensively on investing in the energy, defense, and technology sectors. In a previous life, he wrote technical documentation and managed a marketing communications group in Silicon Valley.
He has a bachelor's degree in English from the University of Chicago and now lives in Montana, where he fishes for trout in the summer and stays inside during the winter.