The Labor Department released a new set of statistics yesterday looking at the problem of underemployment in America. While the official unemployment rate of 8.2 percent is worrisome enough, there are also a sizable number of people who have part-time jobs but want to find a full-time position. Adding the number of underemployed to the picture brings the number up to 15.3 percent, for what the federal government calls U-6.
Here in New Jersey, the official unemployment rate is 9.2 percent, or ranked 40th among the 50 states. But our percentage of underemployed is relatively low, at 6.3 percent, which is below the national average. Adding together our unemployed and underemployed, we edge up to 37th in the nation.
The worst states for underemployment are out west: Nevada's combined percentage of unemployed and underemployed is a whopping 22.1 percent, while California's is 20.3 percent. The best states, by far, are the Dakotas. South Dakota's combined percentage is at 8.6 percent, while North Dakota's is just 6.1 percent.
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