News
Quartz | Just a reminder: The US still has ludicrously high long-term unemployment
Since the Department of Labor began keeping track in 1948, the US has rarely had more than two million workers go without a job for more than six months. At the height of the recent Great Recession, nearly seven million people who wanted jobs faced extended joblessness, and today that number sits at a cool 4 million.
Econ Comments & Analysis
Washington Post | Relief of the jobless
President Obama returned Sunday from his 16-day Hawaiian vacation to a capital in the grip of a “polar vortex.” On Saturday, before saying “aloha” to the Kailua vacation house he rented for $56,000, he wanted to show himself as a man of the people, many of whom became unemployed under his economy.
NY Post | Jobs report: The good, the bad & the schizo
Later this week the government should announce good jobs growth for the month of December. But that will be followed four weeks later by a report that will likely show very bad job growth in January.
AEI | Infographic: 14 ways to help the unemployed get back to work
The labor market remains badly damaged from the Great Recession. In November 2013, the labor force participation rate was 63 percent, the lowest since 1978 when Jimmy Carter was president. Most tragically, more than 4 million American workers have been unemployed for six months or longer. AEI's Michael Strain makes the following recommendations to get the labor market moving again.
Blogs
Heritage Foundation | Extending Unemployment Benefits Could Lead to Fewer Americans Finding Jobs Quickly
Sure, liberals are touting the three-month extension (which isn’t offset by spending cuts elsewhere, despite its hefty $6.5 billion price tag) as an act of compassion for struggling unemployed Americans. But the data shows a different picture: Give people unemployment benefits, and it’s likely they will take longer to find employment.
