We Know Friday's Unemployment Numbers Are Bad, But This Chart Really Puts Things Into Perspective

Employers added only 74,000 jobs in December, far below initial estimates of roughly 197,000.

And although the unemployment rate fell last month from 7 percent to 6.7 percent, it wasn't for a good reason. It fell because more people have stopped looking for work, which is hardly a cause for celebration.

Further, as mentioned earlier on TheBlaze, the U-6 unemployment rate, considered a broader measure of actual unemployment in the U.S., stubbornly held at 13.1 percent in December.

Now, the U-6 rate is considered a “broader measure" because it looks at the whole of the unemployment situation in the United States. It includes not just the unemployed, but also the underemployed and the discouraged.

The following chart mapping the gradual changes in the U-6 rate shows that things are still tough out there for job seekers in the U.S. (via CNBC):

Image source: CNBC

Sure, the U-6 rate has fallen slightly since January 2013 -- but it’s not much to brag about.

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