Underemployment by race and ethnicity, state-level

Definitions: The percentage of workers, by race and ethnicity, that are either highly skilled but working in low-wage jobs, highly skilled but working in jobs that require low skills, or workers that are part-time that would rather be full-time.

Data Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes "Alternative Measures for Labor Underutilization for States" using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS).  Data for the total underemployment rate in Washington state were downloaded on June 22, 2016 from: http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt_archived.htm

Data for Washington state disaggregated by race and ethnicity was provided by the Economic Policy Institute using data from the Current Population Survey.

Footnotes: Data last updated in June 2016 by Washington KIDS COUNT.

There are six different measures of labor utilization that are published by the BLS.  A description of all six measures can be found here: http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm

The underemployment rate is calculated by:
(Unemployment + Marginally attached workers + Part-time for economic reasons) / (Civilian labor force + Marginally attached workers)

Marginally attached workers: people that are not a part of the labor force, but want to work and are available to work, and have been seeking employment in the previous 12 months.  They are counted as unemployed because they have not sought work in the four weeks leading up to the survey.

Part-time workers for economic reasons: people that indicated they are working between 1 and 34 hours a week for economic reasons, including slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, and seasonal declines.  They must also indicate that they are seeking and available for full-time work.

Definitions: The percentage of workers, by race and ethnicity, that are either highly skilled but working in low-wage jobs, highly skilled but working in jobs that require low skills, or workers that are part-time that would rather be full-time.

Data Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes "Alternative Measures for Labor Underutilization for States" using data from the Current Population Survey (CPS).  Data for the total underemployment rate in Washington state were downloaded on June 22, 2016 from: http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt_archived.htm

Data for Washington state disaggregated by race and ethnicity was provided by the Economic Policy Institute using data from the Current Population Survey.

Footnotes: Data last updated in June 2016 by Washington KIDS COUNT.

There are six different measures of labor utilization that are published by the BLS.  A description of all six measures can be found here: http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm

The underemployment rate is calculated by:
(Unemployment + Marginally attached workers + Part-time for economic reasons) / (Civilian labor force + Marginally attached workers)

Marginally attached workers: people that are not a part of the labor force, but want to work and are available to work, and have been seeking employment in the previous 12 months.  They are counted as unemployed because they have not sought work in the four weeks leading up to the survey.

Part-time workers for economic reasons: people that indicated they are working between 1 and 34 hours a week for economic reasons, including slack work or unfavorable business conditions, inability to find full-time work, and seasonal declines.  They must also indicate that they are seeking and available for full-time work.