Washington ESD what is u6 unemployment rate vs regular unemployment benefits?

U6 is just a statistical measurement, not a benefit program. It's how the Bureau of Labor Statistics measures unemployment more broadly than the standard U3 rate. U6 includes people who are underemployed (working part-time but want full-time) and discouraged workers who've stopped looking. It doesn't affect your Washington ESD benefits at all.

I was confused about this too when I first started my claim. U6 is like 'total unemployment' including people who gave up looking or are stuck in part-time jobs. The regular unemployment rate (U3) that gets reported is much lower because it only counts people actively looking for work. Neither one changes your Washington ESD payment.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to ask questions like this, I found a service called Claimyr that helped me reach an agent without waiting on hold for hours. They have a demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ and their website is claimyr.com. Really helped when I had questions about my claim status.

The U6 rate is always higher than the regular unemployment rate because it captures more people in bad job situations. In Washington, if the regular rate is like 4%, the U6 might be 8% or 9%. But again, this is just for economists and policymakers to understand the full picture of employment problems.

Just to be clear - your Washington ESD weekly benefit amount is calculated based on your previous earnings, not on any unemployment rate statistics. The U6 vs U3 distinction is purely for measuring how many people are unemployed or underemployed in the economy, not for determining individual benefit amounts.

I remember being confused about this too. Saw some article saying 'U6 unemployment hits 12%' and thought there was some special program I was missing out on lol

The media makes this so confusing. They'll say 'unemployment is at 4%' one day then 'real unemployment is 9%' the next day. They're talking about U3 vs U6 but never explain the difference clearly.

I've been on unemployment for 6 months and this is the first time I'm hearing about U6. Shows how much Washington ESD explains to us about the bigger picture...

For anyone interested, you can find both U3 and U6 rates for Washington state on the Bureau of Labor Statistics website. Helps understand the job market you're searching in, even though it doesn't change your Washington ESD benefits.

Speaking of job searches, make sure you're meeting Washington ESD's job search requirements. They want 3 job search activities per week and you need to log them. The U6 rate being high doesn't excuse you from the requirement.

If you want to get really technical, there's also U1, U2, U4, and U5 measures of unemployment. U6 is just the broadest one that gets mentioned most after U3. But none of them affect your actual unemployment benefits.

Bottom line - focus on your weekly claims and job search requirements for Washington ESD. The U6 rate is interesting for understanding the economy but won't change your benefit amount or requirements.

Just remember that when people say 'real unemployment' they usually mean U6, and when they say 'unemployment rate' without qualification they mean U3. Both are real measures, just capturing different things about joblessness.

Does anyone know if Washington state publishes its own U6 numbers separately from the national ones? Curious how our state compares.

I wonder if people working gig jobs part-time get counted in U6? Like Uber drivers who want full-time work?

One last point - if you're having trouble reaching Washington ESD for any questions about your claim, I've heard good things about Claimyr helping people get through the phone system faster. Might be worth checking out if you need to speak with an agent.

Thanks for asking this question OP. I was confused about U6 too but didn't want to look stupid asking about it.

For future reference, any time you see U followed by a number in unemployment discussions, it's always a Bureau of Labor Statistics measurement category, not a benefit program. Saves confusion down the road.

This has been super helpful everyone. I feel much less confused now about what U6 unemployment actually means and how it relates (or doesn't relate) to my Washington ESD benefits. Thanks for all the explanations!

One more resource if anyone wants to dive deeper - the BLS has a great explanation of all the different unemployment measures on their website. Helped me understand the differences better when I was curious about this stuff.

This thread really cleared up a lot of confusion for me too! I was seeing U6 mentioned in job market reports and thought it might be some enhanced unemployment program I wasn't aware of. It's actually kind of reassuring to know that when economists say the "real" unemployment rate is higher, they're including people in situations like mine who took part-time work while still looking for full-time positions. At least now I understand why the numbers in news articles don't always match what I see on my Washington ESD account!