South By North Strategies, Ltd.

In a recent publication, the National Employment Law Project summarized national data about long-term unemployment. From the report …

Over the course of the two-year period following the onset of the recession, many demographic groups experienced a three- to five-fold increase among their ranks of long-term unemployed. Men, for example, saw their long-term unemployment numbers increase five-fold. The number of long-term unemployed workers older than 45 has increased nearly five-fold between 2007 and 2009, reflecting the difficulty this group faces when seeking employment in an anemic jobs market where competition for jobs is stiff and a lower probability of retirement translates into fewer job openings. Long-term unemployment among unemployed workers with some college education grew by a factor of 5.3, while those with a college degree increased their level of long-term unemployment by a factor of 5. Other groups, such as Hispanics, saw their long-term unemployed ranks increase by 5.6 over this two-year period.