Proxmire Estimates Unemployment at 8%

WASHINGTON--Senator William Proxmire (D-Wis.) said Thursday the nation's unemployment rate would have been 8 per cent in the last three months if discouraged and part-time workers were figured in the averages.

Proxmire defined a discouraged workers as one who has ceased looking for work because he has hope of finding a job.

Proxmire, chairman of the congressional Joint Economic Committee, said there were an estimate 816,000 discouraged workers in the second quarter of this year.

"This number is just as high as in the previous quarter and almost 10 per cent higher than in the second quarter of last year," Proxmire said in a statement.

The unemployment rate has been figured in the 5 to 6 per cent range by the Administration.

"The Administration chooses to almost completely ignore the available statistical evidence related to discouraged workers. Discouraged workers are not counted among the unemployed because they have given up actively seeking work," Proxmire said.