'Underemployment' Tops 20 Percent in 3 States

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Posted: 11:27 AM Jan 30, 2010 'Underemployment' Tops 20 Percent in 3 States President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union that "one in 10 Americans still cannot find work." But in nine states the figure is closer to one in five. Reporter: Associated Press Email Address: news@kolotv.com

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WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union that "one in 10 Americans still cannot find work." But in nine states the figure is closer to one in five.

The official unemployment rate of 10 percent doesn't include people who are working part-time but would prefer full-time work, or the unemployed who have given up looking for work.

When those groups are included, the devastation in many parts of the country is clear: Michigan's so-called "underemployment" rate was 21.5 percent in 2009, the highest in the nation. California's was 21.1 percent, while Oregon's was 20.7 percent.

Nationwide, the underemployment rate was 17.3 percent in December, just below the 17.4 percent reached in October, the highest on records dating from 1994.

In South Carolina, Nevada, and Rhode Island the underemployment rate is above 19 percent. And in Arizona, Florida and Tennessee it's above 18 percent.

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Posted by: Lauren Location: Vancouver on Jan 31, 2010 at 12:27 PM

Christopher - you sound really ignorant. The Unemployment rate is bad because of bad decisions made on wallstreet and in washington dc, not because women and mexicans are a part of the (paid) work force. Don't scapegoat groups of people just because it's easier than learning. Read some history.

Posted by: Christopher Location: Reno, NV on Jan 30, 2010 at 04:14 PM

Right now, every Corporate executive in the country is wringing his or her hands. They are loving this. And it is our own faught. We allowed this to happen. We the working stiff. In the old days the one who made the living in a family was the men. Women stayed home and took care of the kids, cooked the meals and took care of the house. Life was great. We had One or Two cars in the driveway that we owned. We sent our kids off to college and didn't need student loans and we drove long distances for our vacations. Life was great. Then, Women decided they weren't happy. They wanted jobs of their own. Then the Illegals came in and companies thought this was great. Then everyone else who wasn't happy with their lot in life wanted someone better. Great, now we have everyhone in the family working and we take the bus to work and only the rich send their kids to college. I hope we're real proud of ourselves.

Posted by: LINDA Location: reno, nevaa on Jan 30, 2010 at 02:19 PM

well KOLO I APPLIED FOR YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE POSITION, LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS WITH THIS ONE. BEN, I DO UNDERSTAND YOUR POINT, BUT I WOULD MUCH RATHER BE WORKING THAN LOOKING FOR WORK. I NEED HEALTH CARE, IT REALLY STRESSES ME TO THINK I AM VERY EXPERIENCED BUT MORE THAN WILLING TO DO ANYTHING AT ANY LEVEL TO GET WORK- AND I CAN EVEN ACHIEVE THAT.

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