Skip to content
Explore

Compare indicators

Each line rebased to 100 where the shared window begins — growth from a common base, not levels.

U-6 Underemployment Rate Labor Productivity
U-6 Underemployment RateLabor Productivity Rebased to 100 at Jan 1994
2001 RecessionGlobal Financial CrisisCOVID-19 Recession6080100120140160180100 = Jan 19941995200020052010201520202025Indexed to 100 · r = 0.06 over the overlap — correlation is not causation · econscout.com

Each series rebased to 100 at Jan 1994. u6_rate, productivity · read from cache, latest-revised.

  • U-6 Underemployment Rate

    Unemployment plus discouraged and involuntary part-time workers.

    Unemployed plus marginally attached workers plus those working part time for economic reasons, as a share of the labor force plus marginally attached workers.

  • Labor Productivity

    Output produced per hour worked, as an index.

    Nonfarm business sector real output per hour of all persons, indexed to 2017=100.

Each measured on its own terms — compare the lenses, not just the lines. Full lessons → Learn

r = 0.06 very weak correlation · 128 overlapping months

…and that proves nothing. Two lines moving together is not one moving the other. Almost any pair of trending economic series correlates highly — they share the same long climb of growth, prices, and population, or it is chance. r measures co-movement over this exact window, never cause. Change the range or swap a series and watch r move. Why correlation isn’t causation →