June 11, 2012
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BROAD UNEMPLOYMENT METRIC PUTS N.J. IN MIDDLE OF PACK
By Jared Kaltwasser/NJBIZ
June 11, 2012
The government’s broadest measure of unemployment and under-employment shows the labor situation in New Jersey is about average.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics Monday reported 16 percent of the state’s workers were “underutilized” in 2011. That statistic includes the 9.4 percent of New Jerseyans considered unemployed in 2011, as well as those working part-time instead of full-time, due to the economy; and those who were unemployed and open to work, but weren’t actively seeking it.
New Jersey’s 16-percent underutilization rate — referred to as the U-6 rate by the government — was up slightly from 2010 (15.7 percent) and in line with the national figure of 15.9 percent.
