The labor force participation rate is the percentage of the population that is employed, or unemployed. Those that are actively working are the ones that are employed, to be considered unemployed you would have to be actively looking for a job and have to be available for work.

As of November, 2016 the Labor force participation rate is at 62.7. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is totaled together as a percentage by dividing the number of employees people by all the individuals that are currently working. Unemployment is usually relatively high during periods of recession. “The unemployment rate declined to 4.6 percent in November, and total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 178,000. Employment gains occurred in professional and business services and in health care” ( BLS, 2016).

U3 is the official unemployment rate. U-3 measures the number of unemployed people as a percentage of the labor force. “The U-3 unemployment rate is a comparatively narrow technical measure that leaves out a whole swath of out-of-work people who are willing and able to take a job but who don't fit the narrow BLS definition of "unemployed””. (Investopedia, 2016). The U-6 unemployment rate includes everyone in u-5 and all of those people who work part time, because there is no full time job available due to economic conditions.

The difference between the U-3 rate and the U-6 rate is that the U-6 includes other cases. “Consequently, the U-6 rate is much truer to a natural, non-technical understanding of what it means to be unemployed.” (Investopedia, 2016). U-6 includes discouraged workers, underemployed workers, and other individuals who are on the margin of the labor market. The current U-6 unemployment rate is 9.30 and the current U-3 unemployment rate is 4.6.