Why More Americans Are Unemployed For Longer

Ajouté : 2026-06-07

[00:00:00]Over 1.8 million Americans have been classified as long- term unemployed in a given month in 2026, meaning they've been out of work for at least 27 weeks.

[00:00:10]That accounts for about a quarter of all unemployed Americans. Long-term unemployment has seen a sharp rise in the U.S., up about 55% from 2023 and 45% from 2019.

[00:00:25]I just recently got let go, or laid off, from a startup right before Thanksgiving.

[00:00:31]I thought that, you know, this was going to come around with your level of expertise and the amount of people that I've networked with my entire career. This is only going to be temporary.

[00:00:39]And I was like shocked by the end of January that nothing had, you know, hit.

[00:00:44]I had refreshed my resume.

[00:00:46]I think I banged on every person's door in my LinkedIn connections, like I had found every single connection I had and there was just cold lead, after cold lead, after cold lead and a no.

[00:00:55]And so just give it a couple more weeks, this is going to work out. And then, you know, it really did blink in six months is flown by.

[00:01:02]Economists are interested in this group of people because their experience can help determine the health of the American labor market.

[00:01:09]Think of it like this: if more Americans are taking months and months to find jobs that can indicate the market has a higher barrier to entry and isn't as strong. The rising amount of long-term unemployed people is a sign of the low-hire, low-fire environment, with companies reluctant to increase headcounts amid higher interest rates and the rise of artificial intelligence, it becomes more difficult – and can take longer – for people to find a job.

[00:01:33]That's exemplified by the hiring rate for U.S.

[00:01:36]nonfarm payrolls, which stood at 3.5% in March. It's trended downward since 2021, meaning companies have been adding workers at a slower rate.

[00:01:47]I've probably interviewed over 20 different times, and out of those 100 applications, I've probably been ghosted maybe 80 times.

[00:01:54]And so it's not that we're not trying, it's the fact that we're getting buried amongst each other because there's so many of us looking for jobs right now. There's only so much that talent acquisition and HR departments can do to find the talent that their companies are looking for.

[00:02:08]We are quite literally all drowning in the unemployment crisis right now.

[00:02:13]This kind of economy creates challenges, even for workers who already have jobs.

[00:02:17]With more people competing for fewer openings, employers have more leverage in today's market.

[00:02:23]Year over year growth in wages has seen a significant drop from the highs of 2022.

[00:02:28]But just as costly is the hidden toll of long-term unemployment. First, there's the personal costs that extends far beyond a single missed paycheck.

[00:02:38]Research shows that after a decade, long-term unemployed workers earned about 32% less than nondisplaced workers, compared with only 9% less for short term unemployed workers.

[00:02:50]Job losses have also been linked to worsening mental and physical health, as well as greater social withdrawal.

[00:02:57]What psychologists tell us is that other than the death of a family member or a close friend, this is one of the most devastating things that people face. So it's a very serious health problem and an economic problem.

[00:03:10]The amount of rejection, the amount of ghosting eats away at you. Even with therapy, it's still like it's really hard to constantly be told that you're not good enough or that there's not a spot for you. And as someone that's always like carved their own way or found a path to success.

[00:03:26]It feels like there's just a blockade in the road and that no matter how big the bulldozer is that you're pushing, or how hard that you're pushing yourself, that blockade is not moving.

[00:03:34]Then there is this societal cost.

[00:03:37]Communities with high levels of long-term unemployment often see higher rates of crime and violence.

[00:03:42]Other studies have found that children who grow up with long-term parental unemployment tend to have significantly worse mental health in their adulthood.

[00:03:49]And lastly, it can hinder the growth of the US economy. A widely adopted economic rule of thumb estimates that a one percentage increase in the unemployment rate is associated with a 3% reduction in GDP.

[00:04:02]That's because high unemployment often leads to the suppression of consumer spending, which accounts for almost 70% of America's gross domestic product.

[00:04:11]For millions of Americans, long-term unemployment is more than a temporary setback.

[00:04:16]It can reshape their careers, families, and communities for years to come.