In September, the number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job was
5.5 million, little different from the prior month. These individuals were not counted as
unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding
the survey or were unavailable to take a job. (See table A-1.)
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally
attached to the labor force changed little at 1.5 million in September. These individuals
wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months
but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged
workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for
them, also changed little over the month at 367,000. (See Summary table A.)
