New data shows Tampa Bay's true unemployment rate

Note: Share of the U.S. labor force that is functionally unemployed (seeking but unable to find a full-time job, is unemployed or is employed in a position earning less than a living wage); Data: Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity; Chart: Axios Visuals

America has lots of good jobs , but they're not evenly distributed.

Why it matters: The full spectrum of inequality within the U.S. is on display in an updated dataset released this month by the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP).

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How it works: LISEP's proprietary True Rate of Unemployment measures the proportion of workers looking for a full-time job that pays a living wage — and who can't find one.

• Nationwide, the True Unemployment rate was 24.2% as of April.

Zoom in: In 2023, Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater (22.5%) and Lakeland-Winter Haven (20.2%) had slightly lower rates than the national True Unemployment rate of 23%.

• North Port-Sarasota-Bradenton averaged 23.8%.
• Ocala (13%) and Palm Bay (14%) had some of the nation's lowest unemployment rates. Such low rates can indicate a community is disproportionately home to wealthier residents who don't need to work.

Between the lines: The True Unemployment rate tends to track — but also be much higher than — the headline Bureau of Labor Statistics unemployment rate.

• That's because the BLS rate excludes people who might be earning only a few dollars a week; LISEP, by contrast, counts as unemployed anybody earning less than $25,000 per year.
• The BLS, unlike LISEP, also excludes anybody who has stopped looking for work or is discouraged by a lack of jobs or the demands of child care.

State of play: "Local communities investing in infrastructure, housing, and future-oriented industries consistently outperform those more reliant on low-wage jobs," says LISEP founder Gene Ludwig.

The other side: Pockets of painfully high unemployment remain.

• In the border town of Laredo, Texas, the True Unemployment rate is a shocking 52% — despite it being the busiest port in the country.

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