U.S. Congresmman Duncan Hunter. Photo: wiki commons.

The Hill – A group of 18 House Republicans on Thursday proposed legislation that would require the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) to factor in people who have given up looking for work in its headline unemployment number, a change that would drive the rate higher under President Obama.

BLS currently uses its so-called “U-3” calculation as the headline unemployment number for the nation, but it does not take into account people who have stopped looking for work. That additional factor is considered in the so-called “U-5” calculation, which the Real Unemployment Calculation act, H.R. 4128, would establish as the headline rate.

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