(CNBC) -- The U.S. Labor Department said Thursday that the unemployment rate was 5.3 percent in June-but does that rate tell the real story?
A number of economists look past the "main" unemployment rate to a different figure the Bureau of Labor Statistics calls "U-6," which it defines as "total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of all civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers."
The U-6 rate fell in June to 10.5 percent, the lowest it's been since July 2008.