About 6.2 million Americans want a job but aren’t actively looking for one. That’s up 76,000 from April, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Situation report released on June 5.
The economy added 172,000 nonfarm payroll jobs, beating consensus expectations. The unemployment rate held steady at 4.3%.
The 6.2 million number, explained
The BLS tracks a category of people who want employment but don’t meet the technical definition of “unemployed.” To be counted as unemployed, you have to be actively looking for work. These 6.2 million people aren’t doing that.
Within this broader group, about 1.7 million were classified as “marginally attached” workers, a subset that includes people who searched for work at some point in the prior 12 months but not in the four weeks before the survey.
