Long-Term Unemployment

Kiana Vesely

October 6th 2012

SO 100 75

Rhetoric and Reality

Long-Term Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when an individual who is actively searching for a job but is unable to obtain one. Long-term unemployment is a category, which falls under unemployment, where people who are actively searching for work have been jobless for more than 27 weeks—that’s six months without a job. Numerous people are affected by unemployment and long-term unemployment, first hand while unintentionally affecting loved ones as well.

As of May 2012, research shows approximately 30 percent of Americans who are unemployed have been searching for work and have been jobless for over a year’s time (Unemployment Definition | Investopedia). According to Ezra Klein from the Washington Post, this percentage signifies about 3.9 million workers have been unemployed for over a year—that is [almost] more than the population of the state of Oregon (Klein, Ezra). [The population of Oregon at the start of 2012 was approaching 3.9 million and has increased since (Oregon Population 2012)]. Although the unemployment rate has dropped significantly as of August 2012, to 8.1 since its rise from 8.9 to 9.4 in May 2009, there are still so many Americans without jobs who have been eagerly searching and trying to obtain one (Month).

Four main characteristics can aid to define American persons who are unemployed—age, education, race, and location. The majority of the long-term unemployed individuals are over the age of 55. Research shows that 42 percent of unemployed workers who are over the age of 55 have been out of work for over a year. The Atlantic states that the older the unemployed, the longer the duration of their unemployment (Thompson, Derek). “The more you learn, the more you earn” (Thompson, Derek). Approximately 1/3 of unemployed workers who have earned a bachelor’s degree, have been jobless for over a year. The unemployment rate for persons with Doctoral degrees in 2009 was 2.5,...