How to read CPU load measures

This is part of the Semicolon&Sons Code Diary - consisting of lessons learned on the job. You're in the unix category.

Last Updated: 2024-04-18

I was putting an artificial load on my "docnotes" server by means of an infinite loop:

while : ; do : ; done

In monit (a tool for monitoring servers), I saw data like the following:

0.1%us, 0.2%sy, 0.0%wa

What does these outputs mean?