Change in those unemployed for 27 weeks or more from 2001 to 2010.
The unemployment numbers for July released this morning show that little has changed since the previous month: 131,000 jobs were lost and only 71,000 jobs were created, leaving the unemployment rate unchanged at 9.5 percent. The particular numbers for various groups of workers also remained unchanged, meaning the recession is still hitting blacks (15.6 percent unemployment), Hispanics (12.1), and teenagers (26.1) the hardest.
Perhaps most depressingly, the number of people who've been jobless for more than 27 weeks remains virtually the same at 6.6 million, and the number of workers who've seen their hours reduced because of the recession has changed little and is at 8.5 million, underscoring the need for continued support from government programs. Another unfortunate statistic that remains steady are workers discouraged by the economic climate. Those who have looked for a job in the past 12 months but not in the past 4 weeks number 2.6 million, and there are 1.2 million discouraged workers. The latter number is up by 389,000 from a year ago.
-- Monica Potts
