While the number of people employed in the United States surged higher by 280,000 in May, and the unemployment rate remained at 5.5%, the count of the long-term unemployed stayed at 2.4 million, according the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The problem remains one of the most difficult to resolve as the overall employment situation strengthens.

According to the BLS May Employment Situation Summary:

The number of persons unemployed for less than 5 weeks decreased by 311,000 to 2.4 million in May, following an increase in April. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) held at 2.5 million in May and accounted for 28.6 percent of the unemployed. Over the past 12 months, the number of long-term unemployed is down by 849,000

So, some improvement, but none recently. And, large enough to matter at almost 29% of the total pool of the unemployed.

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The Congressional Budget Office has done an analysis of long-term unemployment and its causes. One is the location of the long-term unemployed, and another is erosion of skills. Each is a catch-22, which these people cannot solve on their own. The cost of moving from one place to another can be high. “Re-training” can be as well. In the meantime, the federal government has not come up with a series of solutions to address the trouble.

Pessimism about the problem is warranted. A writer for The Washington Post pointed out:

In research for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Northeastern University economist Rand ­Ghayad sent nearly 5,000 mock applications in response to job postings. He found that résumés showing unemployment lasting more than six months were uniformly rejected — even when those applications listed significant work experience. In other words, Ghayad said, companies were more willing to hire people with little experience who were recently unemployed than they were to hire long-jobless candidates with relevant experience.

Long-term unemployment, therefore, is an economic death spiral, at these for those who suffer from the problem.

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