The number of Americans without a job for 27 weeks or more rose in August to the highest level in three years. The reason this matters? Labor market studies by the Federal Reserve show that individuals who experience joblessness for more than 26 weeks face increasing risk of becoming permanently detached from the labor force, contributing to structural unemployment in the economy. Unfortunately, this measure will likely increase in coming months as the full impact of long-term, pandemic-induced job losses in March begin to show up in the data.
Number of unemployed American for 27 weeks or more
