Gallop ran a poll finding 20% of Americans are either unemployed or working part-time.

Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. workforce lacked adequate employment in January and struggled to make ends meet with reduced resources and bleak job prospects, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday.

In findings that appear to paint a darker employment picture than official U.S. data, Gallup estimated that about 30 million Americans are underemployed, meaning either jobless or able to find only part-time work.

Underemployed people spent 36 percent less on household purchases than their fully employed neighbors in January, while six out of 10 were not hopeful about their chances of finding adequate work in the coming month, the poll said.

Gallup surveyed more than 20,000 U.S. adults from January 2 to 31. The results have a 1 percentage point margin of error.

This number is higher than the DOL U6 number, but no surprise there if you have been reading this site.

Even worse, under employment as a term should mean those who cannot find work in their field. Say one has a PhD in biochemistry but is working at Home Depot,abet full-time. That person is counted as an unskilled laborer, when quite obviously they are underemployed.

Meanwhile Bernanke testified The U.S. economic recovery is still not yet on a sustainable path, and near-zero interest rates are still needed.