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Vol. 75/No. 42      November 21, 2011

 
Most jobless workers without
any unemployment benefits
 
BY ANITA OLSSON  
Since the beginning of last year the proportion of the officially unemployed in the U.S. who receive government compensation has gone down from 75 percent to 48 percent. Alongside nearly three years of persistently high joblessness, which officially stands at 9 percent today, long-term unemployment has risen to record highs. Of the 14 million considered jobless by government standards, nearly one-third have been out of work for a year or more.

In the 20 hardest hit states Congress extended jobless benefits for up to 99 weeks. Other states range from 60 to 93 weeks. Congress is expected to decide whether to maintain the extensions before the end of the year. If discontinued, another 2.2 million people will be cut off by February.

The average duration of unemployment was 39.4 weeks in October. The previous month it was 41 weeks, the highest since these figures started being kept in 1948.

In addition to long-term unemployed workers being cut off the rolls, millions of others without work are not officially considered unemployed, not counted in the jobless figures, and also not entitled to benefits. Some 2.6 million, for example, are labeled “marginally attached” to the labor force because, according to government bureaucrats, they have not searched for a job in the last four weeks. There are also 8.9 million people working part-time because they can’t find full-time work, according to the U.S. Labor Department.  
 
 
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