February 2nd, 2008
1.4 mln Americans unemployed for long-term in January 2007
The number of long-term unemployed stood at 1.4 mln in January 2007, up about 21% YTY and up 3% MTM. The full-year average for 2007 was 1.2 mln long-term unemployed, nearly double the reading for 2000. For all of 2007, about 17.6% of those who were unemployed had been out of work 6+ months. That compares to only 11.4% who were long-term unemployed in 2000. While the unemployment rate dropped to 4.9% in January 2007 from 5% in December 2007, the latest reading showed 18.3% of the unemployed have now been out of work for at least six months, Congressional Budget Office reports.
