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I wonder if the rise of gig-economy type work has dirtied the employment data pool? If you're out of work and looking for a employment, yet you're still scrapin

I wonder if the rise of gig-economy type work has dirtied the employment data pool? If you're out of work and looking for a employment, yet you're still scraping by a few bucks every week due to Uber or Lyft or something similar, and you're a part of a significant percentage of people doing the same then unemployment numbers probably aren't as pretty as some would like us to believe.

baronswindle 8y ago
U6 unemployment numbers include workers who are employed part time but would prefer to be full time, and U6 is near all time lows.
- lusmd 8y ago
  But labor force participation rates are still very, very low. If you'd like a job but don't have one, you don't get counted in any unemployment stats except the aggregate labor force participation.
  - bryondowd 8y ago
    This caught my attention so I looked for a source. Looks like this rate is the number of people who are Employed (60.7%) or have been actively seeking work in the last week (4%) out of the total population of people who are 16 years or older, not institutionalized, and not active military. The source I found doesn't break down the remaining 35.3% of the population much, except to pull out about 2% as marginally attached or discouraged. Basically, people who have given up looking for work. I tried figuring out the makeup of the remaining 33%, but without much luck. How many 16 and older students are out there not working because they are full time committed to schooling? Hard to figure out, because so many students have part time jobs or are at least actively looking for part time jobs. Then, how many people are retired by choice, versus retired because there's no more work for them? How many homemakers are staying home with kids because they can't earn enough to significantly exceed childcare expenses versus those who stay home because they don't need or want to work?
  - leereeves 8y ago
    Overall (all ages) labor force participation rates are low, but labor force participation among people 25-54 are very high. All ages LFPR are probably low because the Baby Boomers are retiring and Millenials are still in college. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  So, an Uber drive that's in the app available for calls 35+ hours a week but gets few calls, are they part-time or full-time?

baronswindle 8y ago

U6 unemployment numbers include workers who are employed part time but would prefer to be full time, and U6 is near all time lows.

lusmd 8y ago
But labor force participation rates are still very, very low. If you'd like a job but don't have one, you don't get counted in any unemployment stats except the aggregate labor force participation.
- bryondowd 8y ago
  This caught my attention so I looked for a source. Looks like this rate is the number of people who are Employed (60.7%) or have been actively seeking work in the last week (4%) out of the total population of people who are 16 years or older, not institutionalized, and not active military. The source I found doesn't break down the remaining 35.3% of the population much, except to pull out about 2% as marginally attached or discouraged. Basically, people who have given up looking for work. I tried figuring out the makeup of the remaining 33%, but without much luck. How many 16 and older students are out there not working because they are full time committed to schooling? Hard to figure out, because so many students have part time jobs or are at least actively looking for part time jobs. Then, how many people are retired by choice, versus retired because there's no more work for them? How many homemakers are staying home with kids because they can't earn enough to significantly exceed childcare expenses versus those who stay home because they don't need or want to work?
- leereeves 8y ago
  Overall (all ages) labor force participation rates are low, but labor force participation among people 25-54 are very high. All ages LFPR are probably low because the Baby Boomers are retiring and Millenials are still in college. https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060 https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS12300060
dragonwriter 8y ago
So, an Uber drive that's in the app available for calls 35+ hours a week but gets few calls, are they part-time or full-time?