Underemployment hurting economy

Amid one of the worst recessions in California history, the percentage of underemployed workers in Los Angeles County has doubled in the past year to 18 percent, according to a new study from a nonprofit group to be released Friday. Troy Anderson in the Daily News.

Underemployment takes a broader look at the economy than official state unemployment figures because it also includes those who have given up on looking for a job or have been involuntarily reduced to part-time employment.

Underemployment in the county grew from 8 percent in 2007 to 18percent last year, according to the "Ebbing Tides in the Golden State" report by the Economic Roundtable. In California it grew from 8 percent in 2007 to 17percent in 2008.