Oregon Public Broadcasting

The Northwest's unemployment rate continues to hover in the 9 to 10 percent range.

Washington's August jobless numbers are due out Wednesday. Oregon's were released Tuesday and remain at 10.6 percent.

Idaho's were released earlier this month -- 8.9 percent.

But the monthly stats ignore a lot of people. That's why there's another number economists -- and politicians -- sometimes use. Austin Jenkins explains.

In Washington, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dino Rossi refers to it as the "functional" unemployment rate -- 17.4 percent. Or nearly one-in-five people.

That's the number the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics uses to capture not just the out-of-work, but a whole host of other people who've been hurt by the down economy.

Dave Wallace with Washington's Employment Security Department says it's the broadest measure of both unemployment and under-employment.

Dave Wallace: "You're talking about people that have given up looking for work, of course. People that are working less than full-time when they want to be working full-time. But you're also talking about people who are working in a job below what they would prefer to be working in wage-wise or otherwise."

In Oregon the percentage of people who fit into this category is 18 percent. In Idaho it's 14 percent.

These figures are from last year - the most recent snapshot available.