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24% of unemployed workers have been jobless for over a year

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The Inn of Rosslyn, which is permanently closed due to pressure from the Covid-19 pandemic, on Feb. 5, 2021 in Arlington, Virginia.

Liu Jie/Xinhua via Getty Images

‘Breathtaking’

In all, those long-term unemployed represented 24% of the 9.9 million total jobless workers last month, according to the bureau. (The data are without seasonal adjustments.)

“I think that number is pretty breathtaking, that nearly a quarter of unemployed workers have been unemployed for over a year,” said Heidi Shierholz, director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute and former chief economist at the Department of Labor from 2014 to 2017.

“It really shows that even as the economy is recovering, you have a lot of the same people who have been unemployed throughout this whole damn thing,” she added.

Long-term unemployment

You have unemployment coming down, and long-term unemployment going up.

Heidi Shierholz

director of policy at the Economic Policy Institute

However, not all workers qualify for assistance, despite broader eligibility criteria during the pandemic.

More than 4 million Americans were jobless for six or more months in March тАФ or 43.4% of all unemployed, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said Friday.

That’s almost on par with the record 45.5% share hit in the aftermath of the Great Recession.

The share is growing even as the U.S. unemployment rate fell to 6% in March. The U.S. gained 916,000 jobs, the most since the summer.

In recessions, unemployment and long-term unemployment generally move up and down together, Shierholz said.

“That is not what’s going on here,” she said. “Right now, they’re going in a totally opposite direction тАФ you have unemployment coming down, and long-term unemployment going up.”

The number of Americans out of work for at least a year is still about half the peak hit after the Great Recession.

In April 2010, more than 4.6 million people had been out of work at least 52 weeks, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It took another 20 months for that number to dip below the 4 million mark.

However, long-term unemployment may not linger to the same extent this time around, given the pace of vaccinations and the trend of the economic rebound.

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