U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 

Summary 10-10 / October 2010

Issues in Labor St atistics

BLS

Ranks of those unemployed 

for a year or more up sharply

that the availability of extended unemployment 

insurance benefits has contributed to the 

increase in unemployment duration, although 

some researchers have argued that the 

extension of unemployment benefits has had a 

limited impact on unemployment duration in the 

recent recession.5

Among the major worker groups, men made 

up 61.3 percent of those unemployed for a 

year or more, compared with 58.1 percent of 

total unemployment in the second quarter of 

2010. (See table 1.) Persons aged 25 to 54 

and 55 years and older also were somewhat 

overrepresented among those jobless for 

a year or more.6 Persons aged 16 to 24 

accounted for a considerably smaller share 

of year-or-longer unemployment than of total 

unemployment, partially a reflection of the fact 

that younger persons are more likely to drop out 

of the labor force than the older unemployed.7

The underrepresentation of youth among 

those unemployed for a year or longer also 

likely reflects the highly seasonal nature of the 

youth labor force, which grows sharply during 

the summer months and recedes with the 

beginning of the school year.8 By race, Whites 

made up nearly 74 percent of all unemployed 

persons and 70 percent of those jobless for 

a year or more. Blacks accounted for 19.1 

percent of total unemployment and made up 

22.7 percent of the ranks of those unemployed 

for a year or more. Persons of Hispanic or Latino 

ethnicity made up 16.7 percent of those jobless 

The number of long-term unemployed workers 

has increased sharply since the recession 

began in December 2007.1 In the second quarter 

of 2010, about 46 percent of the 14.6 million 

unemployed persons were jobless for 27 weeks 

or longer and about 31 percent were unemployed 

for 52 weeks or longer. This report focuses on 

the latter group – those who have been jobless 

for a year or more.2

The number of persons jobless for a year or 

more rose from 645,000 in the second quarter 

of 2007 to 4.5 million in the second quarter of 

2010. The group’s share of total unemployment 

jumped from 9.5 percent to a record high of 30.9 

percent. (See chart 1.) As a share of the labor 

force, the proportion jobless for a year or longer 

rose from 0.4 percent in the second quarter of 

2007 to 2.9 percent in the second quarter of 

2010, also a record high for the series. (See 

chart 2.) Some researchers have attributed the 

rise in long-term unemployment to the tendency 

of firms to hire individuals who have been jobless 

for shorter durations first, thus increasing the 

share of unemployed persons who have been 

jobless for very long periods.3 Others have found 

that declining worker turnover rates have led to 

increased unemployment durations for those 

workers who involuntarily lost their job during the 

recent recession.4 It also has been suggested 
2

Issues in Labor Statistics October 2010

Ranks of unemployed for a year or more up sharply

Chart 1. Duration of unemployment, not seasonally adjusted, second quarter 2007–10

Chart 2. Unemployment rate and percent of the labor force jobless for 1 year or more, 1967–2010

 Quarter

1-26 weeks 27-51 weeks 52 weeks or more

Unemployment 

(In thousands)

 QII 2007 QII 2008 QII 2009 QII 2010

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

0

9.5%

7.7%

82.8%

81.4%

71.4%

54.2%

8.8%

9.8%

14.4%

14.2%

14.8%

30.9%

 Unemployment

rate

 Unemployed

1 year or more

12

10

8

6

4

2

0

1967 1970 1973 1976 1979 1982 1985 1988 1991 1994 1997 2000 2003 2006 2009

NOTE: Shaded areas represent recessions, as determined by the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER). Beginning in 1994, data reflect the 

introduction of a major redesign of the Current Population Survey (CPS). All estimates are not seasonally adjusted.

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.

1994 CPS

←redesign

Percent

NOTE: Totals may not sum to 100.0 percent due to rounding,

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. 
3

Issues in Labor Statistics October 2010

Ranks of unemployed for a year or more up sharply

for a year or more, compared with 18.4 percent of 

unemployed persons.

By educational attainment, the distribution of 

those jobless for a year or more was similar to the 

distribution for total unemployment. (See table 1.) 

Joblessness for a year or longer has increased 

regardless of educational attainment.

In summary, the number of persons unemployed 

for a year or longer has increased considerably since 

the onset of the recession in December 2007. In 

the second quarter of 2010, the share of the labor 

force unemployed for a year or longer reached a 

record high. Men and persons aged 25 and older were 

somewhat overrepresented among those jobless for a 

year or more.

This Issues paper was prepared by Thomas Luke 

Spreen, an economist in the Division of Labor Force 

Statistics, Office of Employment and Unemployment 

Statistics. Email: CPSinfo@bls.gov; Telephone: (202) 

691-6378. Information in this summary will be made 

available to sensory-impaired individuals upon request. 

Voice phone: (202) 691-5200. Federal Relay Service: 

1-800-877-8339. This report is in the public domain and 

may be reproduced without permission. ■

Table 1. Distribution of unemployment by selected characteristics, not seasonally adjusted, second quarter 2010

(Levels in thousands)

Characteristic

Unemployed

Total unemployed Unemployed 52 weeks or more

Number Percent distribution Number Percent distribution

Sex

Total, 16 years and older 14,621 100.0 4,523 100.0

 Men 8,491 58.1 2,773 61.3

 Women 6,130 41.9 1,750 38.7

Age

 16–24 years 4,046 27.7 779 17.2

 25–54 years 8,576 58.7 2,928 64.7

 55 years and older 1,999 13.7 816 18.0

Race and Ethnicity

 White 10,773 73.7 3,165 70.0

 Black or African American 2,796 19.1 1,026 22.7

 Asian 535 3.7 208 4.6

 Hispanic or Latino 2,695 18.4 756 16.7

Educational attainment

Total, 25 years and over 10,575 100.0 3,744 100.0

 Less than a high school diploma 1,688 16.0 573 15.3

 High school graduates, no college 3,929 37.2 1,451 38.8

 Some college or associate degree 2,934 27.7 1,021 27.3

 College graduates 2,024 19.1 699 18.7

NOTE: Totals may not sum to 100.0 percent due to rounding. Persons whose ethnicity is identified as Hispanic or Latino may be of any race. High school graduates include 

persons with a high school diploma or equivalent. College graduates include persons with a bachelor’s, master’s, professional, or doctoral degree. 

SOURCE: Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey.
4

Issues in Labor Statistics October 2010

Ranks of unemployed for a year or more up sharply

1On September 20, 2010 the National Bureau of Economic Research declared 

that the recession that began in December 2007 ended in June 2009.

2 As measured by the Current Population Survey, a person is counted as unemployed if they do not have a job, have actively looked for work in the last 4 weeks, 

and are currently available for work. The duration of unemployment represents the 

length of time (through the current reference week) that individuals classified as 

unemployed have been looking for work and refers to job searches in continuous 

progress rather than the duration of a completed spell. All estimates in this report 

are not seasonally adjusted. 

3 See Daniel Aaronson, Bhashkar Mazumder, and Shani Schechter, “What is 

Behind the Rise in Long-term Unemployment?” Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago Economic Perspectives, 2nd Quarter 2010, on the Internet at http://

www.chicagofed.org/digital_assets/publications/economic_perspectives/2010/2qtr2010_part1_aaronson_mazumder_

schechter.pdf (visited September 17, 2010). 

4 See Murat Tasci and Saeed Zaman, “Unemployment after the Recession: A New 

Natural Rate?,” Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Economic Commentary, 

September 2010, on the Internet at http://www.clevelandfed.org/

research/commentary/2010/2010-11.cfm (visited September 17, 2010).

5 See Rob Valletta and Katherine Kuang, “Extended Unemployment and UI Benefits,” 

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco Economic Letter, April 2010, on the Internet at 

http://www.frbsf.org/publications/economics/letter/2010/el2010-12.

html (visited September 17, 2010). See also Michael Elsby, Bart Hobijn, and Ayșegül 

Șahin, “The Labor Market in the Great Recession,” NBER Working Paper No. 15979, May 

2010, on the Internet at http://www.nber.org/papers/w15979 (visited September 17, 2010).

6 For more information on older workers in the current recession, see Emy Sok, “Record 

unemployment among older workers does not keep them out of the job market,” Issues 

in Labor Statistics, Summary 10–04, March 2010, on the Internet at http://www.

bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils81.pdf (visited September 17, 2010).

7 See Randy Ilg, “Long-term unemployment experience of the jobless,” Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 10–05, June 2010, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/

opub/ils/pdf/opbils82.pdf (visited September 17, 2010).

8 See “Employment and Unemployment Among Youth - Summer 2010” on the Internet 

at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/youth.pdf (visited September 17, 

2010).

Notes