Line chart titled “US Unemployment Rate” comparing U-3 (unemployed) and U-6 (under-employed) from Dec 2016–Dec 2022. Both series are steady and slowly falling through 2019, then spike sharply at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic (U-3 ~15%, U-6 ~23%) and decline through 2021–2022. By late 2022 U-3 is ~3–4% and U-6 ~6–7%. U-6 is consistently higher than U-3 throughout.
-
What the chart shows: Two lines: an olive line for Unemployed (U-3) and a blue line for Under-employed (U-6), plotted as percent of the labor force on the y-axis (3%–23%) across time on the x-axis (Dec 2016 to Dec 2022).
-
Series meaning (context):
- U-3 is the official unemployment rate. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- U-6 is a broader measure that also counts marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons (involuntary part-time). (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
-
Key patterns and values (read off the graphic):
- 2017–2019: Both lines drift down slightly; U-3 hovers around ~4% and U-6 around ~7%–8%.
- Early 2020: A sudden spike—U-3 rises to about 15% and U-6 to about 23% at the pandemic onset. (For context, BLS reported U-3 = 14.7% in April 2020; U-6 peaked near 23%.) (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Mid-2020 to 2022: Both lines fall quickly through 2020–2021 and level out in 2022, with U-3 near 3–4% and U-6 near 6–7%.
- Gap behavior: U-6 remains above U-3 at all times; the gap widens during the downturn (reflecting more part-time-for-economic-reasons and marginally attached workers) and narrows as the labor market heals. (CRS notes the 2020 spike was historically abrupt.) (Congress.gov)
- Purpose identified: This is a complex, information-dense chart (time-series comparison).
- Alt-text style: I provided a concise alt attribute summarizing the essential message (trend + relative levels) and a longer textual description conveying key data relationships, per complex-image guidance.
- Precision & context: Values are approximate readings from the image; brief context and definitions come from authoritative sources (BLS/CRS) to clarify what U-3 and U-6 represent and why the spike occurs. (Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- Clarity: Avoided redundant phrases (“image of…”), focused on what a reader needs to understand the comparison and major inflection points.