underemployment is a measure of the total number of people in an economy who are unwillingly working in low skill and low paying jobs or only part time because they cannot get full time jobs that use their skills 
underemployment as well as unemployment is counted in u s government reports in order to provide a truer picture of the health of the job market understanding underemploymentunderemployment is calculated by dividing the number of underemployed individuals by the total number of workers in a labor force there are two types of underemployment visible underemployment is underemployment in which an individual works fewer hours than is necessary for a full time job in their chosen field due to the reduced hours they may work two or more part time jobs in order to make ends meet the second type of underemployment is invisible underemployment it refers to the employment situation in which an individual is unable to find a job in their chosen field consequently they work in a job that is not commensurate with their skill set and in most cases pays much below their customary wage a third type of underemployment refers to situations in which individuals who are unable to find work in their chosen field quit the workforce altogether meaning they haven t looked for a job in the last four weeks per the bureau of labor statistics bls definition of not in the labor force 1the number of these workers skyrocketed during the onset of the economic crisis and lockdown in early 2020 which ultimately resulted in a substantial change in working conditions and coincided with a crash in the markets 234 it is statistically difficult to measure the third type of underemployment causes of underemploymentunderemployment can be caused due to several factors the period during and after a recession when companies downsize and lay off qualified workers is characterized by underemployment underemployment jumped to its highest levels in the recession resulting from the global outbreak crisis 5according to a bls report the number of underemployed individuals in the u s economy decreased from 9 million during the fourth quarter of 2018 to 8 2 million in the same period a year later on an overall basis the agency estimated that there were 95 million people not in the labor force including discouraged workers who had stopped looking for work in q4 19 6another cause of underemployment is changes in the job market due to shifts in technology as job descriptions change or jobs are automated laid off workers can be retrained or retired from the workforce those who do not have the resources or means to retrain themselves are generally susceptible to underemployment weaknesses of the unemployment ratethe unemployment rate counts those workers who are part of the labor force and actively seeking work but are currently without it the unemployment rate receives the majority of the national spotlight but that can be misleading as the main indicator of the job market s health since it does not account for the full potential of the labor force the u s unemployment rate was 13 3 as of may 2020 but at the same time the u s underemployment rate was 22 8 75 the unemployment rate is defined by the bls as including as a percentage of the labor force the labor force is the sum of the employed and unemployed 1 a measure of underemployment is needed to express the opportunity cost of advanced skills not being used or being underutilized 