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Amid headlines touting low unemployment and strong hiring numbers, a deeper, more troubling narrative is taking root across the American workforce.

While official U.S. unemployment remains steady, a growing share of American workers are experiencing what's known as “functional unemployment”.

Costs have fluctuated significantly in recent years — and in most cases, they've been going up and up. That becomes particularly alarming when you consider that soaring costs of living have already greatly reduced quality of life for the bottom 60% of U.S. households, according to a May 2025 analysis from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

If the maxim "knowledge is power" holds true, the opposite must be true as well. This makes the compromising of economic data all the more troubling.

While headline unemployment may be stable, an increasing number of Americans are experiencing what is referred to as “functional unemployment,” a term that highlights the deeper issues facing America’s workforce.

We can’t build sound policy on outdated metrics or regulate the future with rules from the past. As Gene Ludwig explains in Starling's 2025 Compendium, legacy frameworks in economic measurement and financial regulation are falling short. Stability and progress demand modern tools: sound data, smart oversight, and policy built for today’s economy.

In 2023, about 11% of Americans officially lived in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Even more struggle financially, though, and the share may be higher than you think.

Because of increased layoffs and a tricky job market outlook, employee confidence reached a new record low in May. Are these layoffs a trend that will continue? Is this low confidence rating a prediction for the future or a reaction to the layoffs of the recent past?

A new study defines a quarter of working age Americans as ‘functionally unemployed,’ despite the government’s figure of 4.2 percent.

A low unemployment rate typically signals that an economy is generally healthy. The unemployment rate in the U.S. remained near a 50-year-low in April 2025 at 4.2% — plus, American employers added 177,000 jobs. This all sounds good, right? Not so fast.

Science, civic life, and commerce all rely on safeguarding government statistics.

The focus on national averages often masks economic inequality. The disparity between official figures and the lived experiences of low-income households reveals a significant gap in understanding the true impact of inflation.

A basic quality of life means being afforded the opportunity to pursue one’s full potential with dignity.

According to a new study, true unemployment in the United States is a stunning 24.3%, as millions of Americans are “functionally unemployed."

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment rates have not shifted much in recent years. But according to a new report, another measure of unemployment is much higher, and steadily growing.

While the unemployment rate remains near a 50-year low, another measure of worker well-being indicates there may be bigger cracks in the labor market.

The majority of Americans don't make enough to cover basic costs of living like healthcare and rent. It's called the affordability gap. Gene Ludwig, founder and chairman of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity, joined Evening News Plus to discuss.

Politico Magazine reached out to five economists with different industry or political perspectives to find out what they’re looking at to predict where the U.S. economy is headed. Here’s what they said.

The gap between what Americans earn and how much they need to bring in to achieve a basic standard of living is growing, according to a new report from the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

There’s a growing gap between what low-income families earn and what it actually costs to live in the US, according to a new study that says headline measures of inflation fail to capture the burden on these households.

The butterfly effect illustrates how seemingly insignificant actions can have far-reaching consequences, which can easily be extended to our economy.

While the official national and local unemployment rates may be at historic lows, there are millions of working Americans who are living at or below the poverty line.

Economic data collection is a slow-moving process and at best a rearview mirror perspective on an ever-evolving economy. What can this view tell us?

NPR's David Brancaccio talks with LISEP Chair Gene Ludwig about how to reconcile the discrepancy between the numbers and what we observe in our daily lives.

NPR's Scott Simon speaks with Eugene Ludwig, former Comptroller of the Currency, about how some government statistics get the economy wrong.

Merriam-Webster defines a job as simply “a regular remunerative position,” but is that really all we have come to expect from employment today?

NerdWallet Senior News Writer Anna Helhoski explore how unemployment statistics overlook underemployment, why inflation feels worse for lower-income earners, and how policymakers could improve economic measurement tools.

There are credit factors in affordable housing affecting supply and demand. These should not be ignored.

Here’s why unemployment is higher, wages are lower, and growth less robust than government statistics suggest.

Layoffs, wildfires, and deportations. Why is the jobs report still positive?

Lord Alfred Tennyson wrote: “Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come.” With the changing of the political calendar, can this same spirit of optimism prevail? We hope so.

Throughout 2024, we continued releasing new and established research aimed at providing economic policymakers with nuanced insights into the challenges facing working Americans.

In the coming year, let us hope that policymakers will listen to the voices of the people and enact policies that truly reflect the needs and aspirations of working families.

Ultimately, it’s the everyday economic realities tempered with some good, old-fashioned common sense that translate most reliably into successful political outcomes.

"Many Americans are struggling to cover basic necessities like medical care and food, let alone save for a major purchase like a home," said Gene Ludwig, former comptroller of the currency and founder of LISEP. It's a stark reminder that interest rate cuts alone won't unlock the housing market for everyone.

President Harry Truman's request for a "one-handed economist" illustrates how policy's reliance on the human factor makes it an inexact science.

LISEP’s data consistently indicated a troubling labor market long before the recent uptick in the official unemployment rate.

No one wants to hear the word “recession.” Except the majority of Americans feel like we’ve been in one for a while. Low- and middle-income households have been reeling from elevated prices and high interest rates over the last several years. Nothing has felt very steady about the economy since the “before times,” prior to the pandemic. Is the sky falling? Or is this the permanent season of uncertainty?

LISEP's June True Rate of Unemployment and the Q2 True Weekly Earnings reports show some modestly encouraging signs for working families, but a deeper dive exposes some more concerning patterns.

The “Economic Dog Days” are upon us, when financial markets take a breather. But recent LISEP data suggests LMI families may be entering their own Dog Days, facing hardships more severe than a mere market slowdown.

For months, economists, analysts and politicians, irked by what they describe as Americans’ undue pessimism, have been pointing at a litany of positive economic data — to the “facts,” as they see it. Journalists are even arguing that the problem is not with the data — it’s you, they say. But maybe the metrics we’ve taken for granted for years as telling the story of America’s economy aren’t capturing the economic reality of many Americans.

Traditional unemployment rates offer a snapshot of a region's economic health, but a closer look reveals a more complex landscape across US metropolitan areas. While some regions boast low unemployment numbers, a deeper analysis exposes disparities.

RegFi co-hosts Jerry Buckley and Caroline Stapleton welcome Eugene Ludwig to discuss the decline in economic opportunities for middle- and low-income Americans.

The full spectrum of inequality within the U.S. is on display in an updated dataset released Friday by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

The real value of workers’ paychecks is being squeezed by the ever-increasing pressure of higher prices while wage increases fail to keep pace. Whatever small amount of a paycheck workers might be saving is being consumed by inflation.

Gene Ludwig joins Beowulf Rochlen on Facepalm America to discuss 'functional unemployment' and how we can improve the well-being of middle- and lower-income Americans through economic research and education.

The traditional model of a secure, full-time position no longer reflects the realities of today’s workforce.

When millions of Americans are constantly being told the economy is great when their pay stubs and bank statements say otherwise, frustration grows as they feel they are being discounted and ignored.

After the BLS released a positive January jobs report, the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage made a sudden and drastic jump above 7%. Why does good news for the economy spell bad news for prospective homebuyers?

Policymakers at every level, on both sides of the aisle, would be well served to appreciate the economic reality American families have lived for at least a quarter of a century.

Rarely has Washington stumbled on an issue more confounding than President Biden’s low approval ratings.

We founded LISEP nearly 5 years ago to bring to light facts and statistics that rigorously examine policy choices, and to point policymakers in the right direction. This is the path to a true shared economic reality that will better the lives of our fellow citizens. The journey is just beginning.

LISEP Chairman Gene Ludwig joins Romaine Bostick and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg TV’s “The Close,” where they discuss the misperception that middle- and lower-income workers are thriving in the informal economy and the extent to which gig work or one-off jobs bridge the gap to functional employment.

About 50% of the American population is considered middle class. And if you’re part of that class, where you live in the U.S. can greatly impact your quality of life — for better or for worse.

The American economy is not one single entity but an amalgamation of hundreds, even thousands, of smaller regional and local economies.

The typical American household must spend an additional $11,434 annually just to maintain the same standard of living they enjoyed in January of 2021, right before inflation soared to 40-year highs, according to a recent analysis of government data.

Middle- and working-class families are enjoying the best standard of living in some of the most expensive U.S. cities, according to a new economic analysis.

Some of the most expensive major cities in the U.S. — like San Francisco and Washington — also offer the best living standards for mid- and lower-income households, according to a new study of metro areas by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity.

This is one topic where everyone seemingly agrees: an effort must be made to establish an economic policy addressing the dire situation of America’s middle- and working-class families.

LISEP Chairman Gene Ludwig joins Romaine Bostick and Scarlet Fu on Bloomberg TV’s “The Close,” where they discuss the reliability of the headline economic statistics used by policymakers and business leaders alike to make critical decisions — and the disconnect between what these statistics say and what a large swath of America is experiencing.

Through the entirety of the 1960s, employment rose while poverty fell sharply. It was a period of economic expansion that illustrated that shared economic prosperity was, indeed, a realistic goal. Flash forward to the 2020s, and we see a much different story.

As of July 2023, the Consumer Price Index — an array of goods that includes the costs of food, energy, new and used vehicles, apparel, shelter and medical care — was up 3.2% year-over-year. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy costs, yields a higher increase, at 4.7%. But Gene Ludwig worries that the Fed is looking at the wrong measurement.

In today’s economy there is a sharp dichotomy between “employed” and “gainfully employed.” While the headline unemployment rate is impressively low at 3.5%, if you dive deeper into the percentage of workers unable to secure living-wage jobs, you will find 22.9% of American workers are functionally unemployed.

The most recent U.S. Consumer Price Index rose by its lowest level since March 2021, which to the casual observer, is a sign that inflation is moderating. In an era where the cost of living continues to rise, accurately measuring inflation is not just essential but critical to safeguard Americans’ financial security and well-being.