True Rate of Unemployment

The True Rate of Unemployment (TRU) measures the share of the U.S. labor force lacking a full-time job (35+ hours) while seeking work or earning below a $26,000 annual living-wage threshold, calculated at 24.9% for July 2026. Disaggregated data show higher rates for Black (27.3%), Hispanic (26.7%), female (31.0%) workers and those without a high-school diploma (50.3%).