It's "only" 8.4 percent because the administration has tried and used every trick in the book to keep the number down.
But face the hard fact, DUmmies, that in 2008 we had 304 million in the US. Today we have 316 million. Yet in 2008 we had over a million more people in the workforce. In reality, if we had the same workforce participation rate that we did in 2008, the U-3 rate would be around 12-13 percent, not 8.4.
Suck it, DUmmies.