Since 1994 the Bureau of Labor Standards has excluded the long term unemployed. If those are factored in, the unemployment rate in the United States is about 23%. The unemployment figures you hear on the news are the more restricted measures.
U1: Percentage of labor force unemployed 15 weeks or longer. U2: Percentage of labor force who lost jobs or completed temporary work. U3: Official unemployment rate per the ILO definition occurs when people are without jobs and they have actively looked for work within the past four weeks. U4: U3 + 'discouraged workers', or those who have stopped looking for work because current economic conditions make them believe that no work is available for them. U5: U4 + other 'marginally attached workers', or 'loosely attached workers', or those who 'would like' and are able to work, but have not looked for work recently. U6: U5 + Part-time workers who want to work full-time, but cannot due to economic reasons (underemployment). U7: U6 + Long Term discouraged workers NO LONGER REPORTED The Official unemployment rate is U3 but note that when these measures were introduced in the 1990s, U5 was the officially reported rate. So the numbers we get on the news are basically even more spin on a rather dismal situation than used to be the case. Just before the current recession the civilian employment to population ratio in the United States was about 63%. It has been waffling at about 58-1/2% since the recession 'officially' ended. As for the effect of Obamacare who really knows? Wait and see.
