US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate
US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate is a broad share of the labour force that is underused, reported as Percent.
7.90
Percent
US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate — latest reading: 7.90 percent. As of July 2026, it is up 2.6% over the past 12 months, near its 10-year average. Source: U6RATE, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, published monthly. Reported as published, without transformation; the publisher may revise it.
Min
6.60
Max
22.90
Average
9.99
10Y Percentile
53%
3M Change
-3.7%
US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate (U6RATE) — 390 observations from 1994-01-01 to 2026-07-01. Source: FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. Red shading indicates NBER recession periods.
Compare US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate with other indicators →
How these numbers changed
Every figure above is the current one. These are the same periods as first published — what US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate said on the day, before it was restated. Measured in Percent.
| Period | First print | Now | Change | Republished |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 2026 | 8 | 8.1 | +0.1 | 1× |
| Sep 2025 | 8 | 8.1 | +0.1 | 1× |
US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate for January 2026 first printed at 8 on February 11, 2026, was revised once, and now reads up to 8.1. Recompute any row from FRED's own vintage archive.
Macro Regime Context
The growth regime is currently late cycle (67% confidence).
See what this means across all four regime dimensions →3-Month
-3.7%
6-Month
-2.5%
12-Month
+2.6%
What this means
US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate is currently at 7.90 percent, which is near its 10-year historical average. The trend is decreasing (-3.7% over the past 3 months).
Over the past 6 months the change is -2.5%, and over 12 months it is +2.6%. The short-term move is accelerating relative to the longer trend.
Cite this page
MacroRadar, "US U-6 Labour Underutilisation Rate," https://www.macroradar.io/us-u6-labour-underutilisation-rate (as of July 2026).