With more than a million Americans out of work for two years or longer, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has decided to expand the length of time someone can be defined as long-term unemployed.

 

Currently, the BLS asks if an individual has been out of work for 99 weeks or longer, making it impossible for economists to determine how many have been jobless for more than two years. But as of January 1, a new category of “260 weeks and over” will be available to unemployed surveyed by the agency.

 

The average length of unemployment has grown from 29.4 weeks in November 2009 to 34.5 weeks in November 2010, according to the BLS. Nearly 10% of the nation’s 15.1 million jobless have been looking for work for two years or more.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

U.S. Changes How It Measures Long-Term Unemployment (by Rick Hampson, USA Today)

Changes to Data Collected on Unemployment Duration (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Long-Term Unemployment Rate at Record High (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)

Length of Long-Term Unemployment Reaches Record High (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)