US long term unemployment - the highest since 1948

There are now 3.1 million people in the US, who have been unemployed for over 6 months. This is the highest level since 1948. We would probably have to go back to the 1930s to find a higher figure.

Of course, there has been population growth,which would have some implications for the prevalence of long term unemployment. Nevertheless, 3.1 million is still a nasty number.

Actually, long term unemployment has been a persistent problem in the US. Since 9/11 there have been at least one million people without work for at least 6 months.