Accurate unemployment numbers

Minnesota’s 8.2 percent March unemployment rate is clearly bad news for the state, but according to House Majority Leader Tony Sertich (DFL-Chisholm), the state’s unemployment numbers are even worse than they look.

Sertich said there are actually more accurate, comprehensive employment numbers available to the state from the federal government. He sponsors HF925 that would ask state officials to use these numbers in their official estimates.

Passed 117-12 by the House on May 11, the bill would force state officials to use the most comprehensive set of statistical measures available, known as “U6,” when calculating unemployment.

The U6 calculations would factor in certain groups of people that the state’s current method, known as U3, does not. This includes people who are unemployed and no longer actively seeking work because of impediments like transportation issues or a lack of child care, and also part-time workers who want to work full-time.

For example, whereas the U.S. unemployment rate for April was 8.9 percent under the U3 calculations, the U6 calculations put it at 15.8 percent.

“I think this would be good for public policy discussion, to know how many Minnesotans are unemployed and what their barriers are to employment,” Sertich said.

Sertich said the data is already collected by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, and that the state’s Department of Employment and Economic Development would merely have to adapt its models for calculating unemployment.

Rep. Bob Gunther (R-Fairmont) expressed concern that the U6 calculations would make Minnesota look bad when compared to other states; however, Sertich said DEED would still collect the U3 data, allowing for an “apples-to-apples” comparison between states.

The bill now awaits action by the full Senate, where Sen. D. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) is the sponsor.