Long-Term Unemployment


Long-Term Unemployment

The lack of work for an extended period of time, often defined as six months or longer. Long-term unemployment can be extremely harmful to the unemployed person because he/she may lose eligibility for certain government benefits if he/she has been out of work for too long. Likewise, significant long-term unemployment can create a vicious cycle for the economy at large: the skill set of the long-term unemployed workers may languish or even become obsolete in some industries, which makes it more difficult for them to find work when employers begin to hire again.