BLS calls U-3 the "official unemployment rate" I guess, but they publish it in a table with 5 other measures that count different things. I'm not entirely sure it's fair to blame them for the fact that most people just focus on that one measurement.
The fault is with the US newsmedia, which very consistently always talks ONLY about the U-3 number, and in my years, has never acknowledged that their are other numbers worth discussing.
