Quote:That was always a labor dept function.  There are 6 different unemployment numbers they used to report.  I think they stopped reporting U4, U5 and U6 several years ago.  The number frequently reported is U2.  www.shadowstats.com still calculates all 6 numbers.  I think U6 is around 26%.

You got the right place. Shadowstats is awesome for real unemployment. U3 is the new narrow focus, U6 was the broader one used till Bush (I believe). Both were changed/modified for Obama in 2009. I don't know about a U5 or U4. Reagan used something completely different at the beginning of his term.

Basically U3 is half of U6 which is half of reality. See chart below, notice the changes after 2009.

 

here we go: http://www.shadowstats.com/alternate_dat...ent-charts



Also a explanation of the terms:

http://www.shadowstats.com/article/c810x.pdf

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