(AP Image) – The “real” unemployment rate rose from 13.6% in September to 13.8% in October, according to figures released today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Though the national unemployment rate is 7.3%, the “real” unemployment rate is a broader measure of the number of people in the United States, 16 and older, currently looking for jobs.

Known as the U-6 unemployment rate, this “real” unemployment figure, seasonally adjusted, includes the unemployed “plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons ….”

The U-6 rate captures the fuller picture of people who are willing and able to work, but cannot find a job.

Since President Barack Obama has been president, the U-6 unemployment rate rose from 14.25% in January 2009 to a high of 17.1% in October, November and December 2009 and the same rate in February, March, and April 2010. The U-6 rate did not fall below 14% under Obama until March 2013, when it hit 13.8%, the same rate for October 2013.

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