Why do you think the BLS goes to the trouble of calculating and publishing U6? Because they want it to be ignored?

The people in power always use the most optimistic measures and the people who want power always use the most pessimistic measures. I'd personally argue the more pessimistic measures are closer to reality, as would many others. BLS found a way to serve us and the people in power, simultaneously, without getting themselves replaced. They didn't just do an ultra-important, thankless job, they also found a way to square a political circle in order to do it. I have nothing but respect for them.

I meant the federal government should use U-6 because it's closer to what most people thing of as unemployment.

The BLS does use U-6. They are literally the agency which calculates and publishes U-6. They aren't hiding anything.

Sorry, I meant the federal government should be using U-6.

They do use it. You can find U-6 mentioned in many federal government documents.

I mean as the most commonly reported measure of unemployment. So use the measure that most people would intuitively view as unemployment (include discouraged workers, etc).

They do use U6. They use hundreds of data points. U3 is "headline unemployment" because it's a middle ground indicator that has a consistent meaning. It's not possible to summarize the employment landscape in a single number.

I meant the federal government should use U-6 because it's closer to what most people think of as unemployment.

BLS is the federal government. Congress and the president have the entire data set produced by BLS. They also have state-level data and more. There are no statutes explicitly tied to U3.

Click through all the links at the bottom of this report: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

I mean using it as what's commonly associated with unemployment. There aren't any requirements to use U3, but the DOL uses it instead of U6. I think most people's idea of unemployment is closer to other measures than it is to U3.

U6 includes underemployment. It's definitely not what most people think of as unemployment. It doesn't adjust for participation rate. Participation can be misleading because while there are definitely discouraged workers the size of the workforce varies naturally as people retire, become disabled or take time off for families. U3 helps track demand for employment and anyone outside the labor force isn't demanding work.

That being said, the closest single metric to follow isn't any of the indices. Try prime age employment-population ratio.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/graph/?g=y51M