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LISEP’s mission is to help achieve shared economic prosperity for all Americans, particularly for middle- and low-income families.
Our focus is fact-based economic and policy research.
The first step toward achieving policies that promote shared economic prosperity is meaningful headline statistics. Our research reveals that the current headline statistics are misleading due to antiquated definitions.
LISEP has produced an initial set of more transparent economic indicators for unemployment, cost of living, and earnings.

LISEP’s Latest Economic Indicators:

As Seen In:

Unemployment

TRU by Metropolitan Statistical Area
Select any state to see its True Rate of Unemployment Out of the Population
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Explore Local Unemployment Data
LISEP Local Analysis
Select any metropolitan statistical area to see its True Rate of Unemployment Out of the Population, True Weekly Earnings, and True Living Cost
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Explore LISEP Local Analysis
What Is the TRU?
Using data compiled by the federal government’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the True Rate of Unemployment tracks the percentage of the U.S. labor force that does not have a full-time job (35+ hours a week) but wants one, has no job, or does not earn a living wage, conservatively pegged at $20,000 annually before taxes.
Just as an accurate census is a prerequisite to funding American communities equitably, policymakers depend on economic indicators to shape economic policy. LISEP developed the True Rate of Unemployment to provide analysts and decision-makers with a more accurate measure of Americans’ financial well-being.
True
Rate of Unemployment
The True Rate of Unemployment (TRU), as defined by LISEP, measures the percentage of the U.S. labor force that is functionally unemployed.
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Cost of Living

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The Wrong Basket of Goods
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.
The Wrong Basket of Goods
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.
The Wrong Basket of Goods
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.
The Wrong Basket of Goods
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.
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Americans Need a Fairer Measure Than CPI To Reveal Inflation’s True Cost
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.
Americans Need a Fairer Measure Than CPI To Reveal Inflation’s True Cost
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.
Americans Need a Fairer Measure Than CPI To Reveal Inflation’s True Cost
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.
Americans Need a Fairer Measure Than CPI To Reveal Inflation’s True Cost
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.
What Is the TLC?
  • Housing
  • Medical care
  • Transportation
  • Food
  • Childcare
  • Technology
  • Miscellaneous (e.g., clothing and personal care items)
The TLC takes into account household size and census region and tracks change in price for this minimal bundle over time.
As a comparison to the TLC, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) measures rising prices. The CPI better serves as an inflation metric rather than a cost-of-living metric due to the inclusion of luxury items and because it only includes the urban population, among other issues.
Thus, the CPI distorts the reality of changing costs faced by most consumers. LISEP found that the CPI drastically understates changes in living costs for LMI families — the TLC rose nearly 1.5 times faster than the CPI since 2001: 78.8% compared to the CPI’s 54.4%.
Explore the TRU
True
Living Cost
The True Living Cost (TLC), as defined by LISEP, assesses a set of minimal adequate needs that a household requires to function:
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Earnings

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True
Weekly Earnings
$
982
$
51,041
 Annualized
Q3 2024
Headline
Weekly Earnings
$
1,165
$
60,580
 Annualized
Q3 2024
For every dollar of earnings reported by the BLS,
the TWE is ...
For every dollar
earned by White workers
Black workers earn ...
For every dollar
earned by White workers
Hispanic workers earn ...
For every dollar
earned by male workers
female workers earn ...
Download a Summary of
Q3 2024
’s
TWE
What Is the TWE?
True
Weekly Earnings
The True Weekly Earnings (TWE), as defined by LISEP, measures the weekly earnings of all members of the workforce — including part time and jobless who are seeking work.
Using data compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), we calculate the median earnings of everyone who is employed or actively seeking employment. Thus, we take the median earnings of the whole U.S. labor force as defined by the BLS.
By comparison, the BLS headline numbers only include those who are employed at full-time jobs. Thus, if a low-income worker moves from full time to part time, or becomes unemployed, the BLS metric will report that earnings have risen, giving a false sense that earnings are getting better. TWE, on the other hand, gives policymakers a more comprehensive indicator of how the job market is performing as a whole.
Note: Both LISEP and BLS exclude the self-employed from their sample for measurement reasons.
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