For Immediate Release: Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Contact: Phoebe Silag or Karen Conner, news@epi.org 202-775-8810

Lack of jobs, not lack of skills, explains underemployment rate

Some have suggested that part of the reason the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high is that too many American workers lack the skills and education currently demanded by employers. Today’s Snapshot explains that this so-called “skills mismatch” theory for today’s high unemployment does not fit well with some basic labor market facts, particularly the growth trends in underemployment across all education levels.