San Diego's "true" unemployment rate
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San Diego's true unemployment rate last year was 22.4%, compared to its official rate of 4.4%, according to a study from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.
Why it matters: The new dataset highlights the true spectrum of inequality in major metro areas, capturing anyone who wants but cannot find a full-time job with a living wage.
Big picture: San Diego is below the nationwide true unemployment level of 23% but above fast-growing metro areas like Denver (15.5%), Nashville, Tennessee (16.3%) and Dallas (19.8%).
How it works: The think tank's proprietary system measures everyone in a metro's workforce who is looking for a job working 35+ hours per week and earning more than $25,000 per year but can't find one.
- The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, meanwhile, excludes from its unemployment rate anyone who has stopped looking for work or who has a gig earning relatively little per week.
- The two figures tend to trend alongside each other.