Word: term
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...relief over the jobless figures released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday morning - 247,000 jobs were lost in July, far fewer than economists had expected - a dark problem lurks in the numbers: dangerously high levels of long-term unemployment in America. Unlike recent recessions, the current economic crisis has been characterized by skyrocketing numbers of those out of work for three, six or more months at a time. Economists worry that the shock of the past year's financial crisis may have driven the U.S. into a period of permanently high unemployment similar to what Europe has suffered...
While overall unemployment dropped from 9.5% in June to 9.4% in July, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) increased to 4.9 million, up from 4.4 million in June. Viewed another way, 32.5% of the total unemployed had been looking for work for longer than half a year, up from 28.9% in June. "This recession is taking people a very long time relative to past recessions to find another job," says John Irons, policy director at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington. Traditionally the U.S. has been able to maintain unemployment...
There are several reasons to worry about the high long-term unemployment numbers. On the individual level, the longer you stay unemployed, the more unemployable you become. People lose job skills, social skills and the will to search for a job as they spend time out of work. Unemployment affects individuals' sense of well being, producing higher rates of depression and lower levels of life satisfaction. Studies have shown mixed results as to the effect of unemployment on health. On average all job losers tend to face a permanent reduction in their salary, and that is even more common...
...Long-term unemployment is also dangerous for the economy as a whole. One quarter of the long-term unemployed permanently leave the workforce, a recent study by the Congressional Budget Office found, producing increased loss of output in the economy. Long-term unemployment burdens social services, diminishes spending levels in the economy and drains overall savings. It can also affect unemployment among young, first-time job-seekers. "Long-term unemployment is debilitating for people trying to find jobs in the first place," says Professor James K. Galbraith of the University of Texas at Austin. The more long term unemployed there...
Within the building, Ahmadinejad began his controversial second term, one that many political insiders do not expect him to finish. In a blatant slight, visible to all from the televised proceedings, few reformist lawmakers and no opposition leaders - including former Presidents Mohammad Khatami and Ayatullah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani - attended the open session of parliament. Several remaining reformists walked out when Ahmadinejad began his address, according to news reports. (Read a story about the prospects for a weakened Ahmadinejad...