The most recent US job report showed that the unemployment rate has fallen to a six year low of 5.9%. However, the number of Americans looking for work hit 13,346,000 in September and this is the highest level since December of 2007 and the start of the Great Recession.
Similarly, the number of underemployed remains quite high with seven million people working part-time out of necessity. The number of unemployed and marginally attached part time workers is at 11.8%.
And the news is even worse for black and Hispanic workers who have unemployment rates of 11% and 6.9% respectively.