When the state releases the latest unemployment figures for California and greater Sacramento today, they will tell only part of the story.
Unaccounted for will be the growing numbers of workers who have had to settle for less of a job than they wanted.
"The pain in the economy is much greater than the jobless numbers would indicate," said economist Sung Won Sohn of California State University, Channel Islands.
"If you include part-time workers who want to work full time and people who simply dropped out … thinking there are no longer jobs to be had, (unemployment) is close to double what the published figures are – 16 to 17 percent."
The state Employment Development Department reported last month that November unemployment in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties was 8.1 percent. It was a seasonally adjusted 8.4 percent statewide, the highest in 15 years.
The U.S. Department of Labor said 5.1 percent of American workers in November 2008 were involuntarily in part-time jobs, nearly double the number from April 2006.
Read the complete story at sacbee.com