2011 ended up with a U6 unemployment rate of 15.2%
The U6 unemployment rate counts not only people without work seeking full-time employment (the more familiar U-3 rate), but also counts “marginally attached workers and those working part-time for economic reasons.” Note that some of these part-time workers counted as employed by U-3 could be working as little as an hour a week. And the “marginally attached workers” include those who have gotten discouraged and stopped looking, but still want to work. The age considered for this calculation is 16 years and over.
The year ended with the rate down to 15.2% from the September high of 16.4%. This is not surprising since we typically spike down due to seasonal hiring.
My hope is that this is a continuing trend; my fear is that this was a seasonal blip. The last time this rate was a single digit was May of 2008 (9.7%) the high was October 2009 (17.2%). Only time will tell which is correct.