True Rate of Unemployment

# Summary LISEP's True Rate of Unemployment, which measures the percentage of the U.S. labor force lacking full-time employment, earning below $26,000 annually, or without jobs, stood at 24.9% in July 2026—significantly higher than the official headline rate of 4.1%. The metric increased 0.2 percentage points in July and reveals substantial disparities by race, gender, and education level, with Black Americans (27.3%), females (31.0%), and those without high school diplomas (50.3%) experiencing the highest functional unemployment rates.