About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in te US, have been jobless for more than six months – a higher percentage than during the Great Depression in the 1930s.
The unemployed in US have, on average, remain unemployed longer than in the 1930s; Employers concerned of job gaps in resumes. There is an unfortunate dictum for the unemployed: The longer people are out of a job, the longer it takes them to find a new one.
Reports state that the chronically unemployed confront the hardest road back to recovery, and that while the jobs picture may be improving statistically on a national level, it is not for them. The bigger the gap on someone’s resume, the more questions employers have. Jobless recovery is low then.
Chronic Unemployment In America Highest as ever
Employers think: ‘Oh, well, there must be something really wrong with them because they haven’t gotten a job in 6 months, a year, 2 years.’ But that’s not necessarily the case,” said Marjorie Gardner-Cruse with the Hollywood Worksource Center.
The problem of course is the economy, but some industries, especially certain manufacturing jobs, are not ever expected to come back. Experts say unemployed workers need to be prepared to change careers.
“That person has to realize that, discover what field they want to work in, become trained and find a job in that field,” said Jerry Nickelsburg, Sr., an economist at UCLA.
Here’s another problem: more than 1 million of the long-term unemployed have run out of unemployment benefits, leaving them without the money to get new training, buy new clothes, or even get to job interviews.
“If you have been unemployed for 6 months or more, it takes a much deeper toll – not just on your personal finances and your career prospects – but on your emotional well-being,” said Paul Taylor, an executive vice president with the Pew Research Center.
