HMM: Broader U-6 Unemployment Rate Increases to 17.1% in April. “The U.S. jobless rate was rose to 9.9% in April, the first increase in three months, but the government’s broader measure of unemployment ticked up for the third month in a row, rising 0.2 percentage point to 17.1%.” So how does this jibe with the claim that the rise to 9.9% is good news because it shows that discouraged workers are re-entering the labor market?