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Long-term unemployed account for 20.3 percent of unemployed in March 2018, down from a year earlier

April 11, 2018

In March 2018, the number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was little changed at 1.3 million and accounted for 20.3 percent of the unemployed. In March 2017, the number of long-term unemployed accounted for 23.4 percent of the unemployed.

Unemployed persons by duration of unemployment, percent distribution, January 2008–March 2018
Month Less than 5 weeks 5 to 14 weeks 15 to 26 weeks 27 weeks or longer

Jan 2008

34.1% 32.1% 15.4% 18.5%

Feb 2008

35.5 31.7 14.9 17.8

Mar 2008

36.0 32.3 14.9 16.9

Apr 2008

32.2 33.2 17.0 17.7

May 2008

38.4 29.0 14.3 18.3

Jun 2008

31.7 34.7 15.4 18.2

Jul 2008

32.4 32.2 16.5 18.9

Aug 2008

34.5 29.2 16.5 19.8

Sep 2008

29.9 31.9 16.8 21.3

Oct 2008

31.0 29.9 16.7 22.3

Nov 2008

31.7 31.0 16.2 21.1

Dec 2008

28.8 31.0 17.1 23.1

Jan 2009

29.5 30.6 17.3 22.6

Feb 2009

26.9 30.7 19.1 23.4

Mar 2009

25.7 30.6 19.5 24.2

Apr 2009

24.1 29.9 19.0 27.1

May 2009

22.0 30.3 20.7 27.0

Jun 2009

20.8 27.0 23.2 29.0

Jul 2009

21.7 24.2 20.2 34.0

Aug 2009

20.0 26.7 19.0 34.3

Sep 2009

18.9 25.1 19.4 36.6

Oct 2009

20.9 23.0 19.5 36.6

Nov 2009

18.7 23.0 18.9 39.3

Dec 2009

19.0 22.8 17.9 40.4

Jan 2010

19.2 22.3 16.9 41.6

Feb 2010

18.6 22.4 18.5 40.5

Mar 2010

18.3 21.7 16.8 43.2

Apr 2010

18.2 20.7 15.6 45.5

May 2010

18.7 21.1 15.3 44.9

Jun 2010

18.2 21.4 15.5 44.9

Jul 2010

19.4 20.5 15.2 44.9

Aug 2010

18.3 24.2 14.8 42.8

Sep 2010

19.3 22.7 15.7 42.3

Oct 2010

18.2 22.9 16.3 42.6

Nov 2010

19.5 22.2 15.9 42.4

Dec 2010

18.7 22.0 14.7 44.6

Jan 2011

19.0 21.5 15.7 43.8

Feb 2011

17.9 22.7 16.6 42.8

Mar 2011

18.5 21.8 15.1 44.6

Apr 2011

20.2 21.7 15.2 43.0

May 2011

19.4 21.1 14.9 44.7

Jun 2011

20.9 21.2 13.3 44.6

Jul 2011

19.2 21.3 14.4 45.1

Aug 2011

19.1 21.5 15.8 43.6

Sep 2011

19.7 20.7 14.4 45.2

Oct 2011

19.4 23.7 14.3 42.6

Nov 2011

19.4 22.1 15.2 43.2

Dec 2011

20.4 21.9 15.0 42.7

Jan 2012

19.3 22.7 15.3 42.7

Feb 2012

20.5 22.3 16.1 41.1

Mar 2012

21.4 22.0 15.3 41.3

Apr 2012

20.9 22.9 15.4 40.8

May 2012

20.2 23.8 13.4 42.7

Jun 2012

21.5 22.0 14.2 42.3

Jul 2012

21.1 23.6 14.0 41.2

Aug 2012

22.3 22.5 14.8 40.4

Sep 2012

20.9 23.2 15.4 40.5

Oct 2012

21.5 23.3 14.6 40.6

Nov 2012

21.9 23.2 14.6 40.2

Dec 2012

22.4 23.6 15.1 38.8

Jan 2013

22.3 25.0 15.2 37.5

Feb 2013

22.7 23.4 14.8 39.2

Mar 2013

21.1 24.2 15.7 39.1

Apr 2013

21.0 24.6 16.5 37.8

May 2013

23.0 22.6 17.1 37.3

Jun 2013

22.8 24.2 16.0 37.0

Jul 2013

22.0 24.5 15.8 37.6

Aug 2013

22.2 24.1 15.1 38.6

Sep 2013

23.2 24.0 16.0 36.8

Oct 2013

25.2 23.5 15.5 35.9

Nov 2013

22.4 24.1 15.8 37.7

Dec 2013

22.4 24.4 16.1 37.1

Jan 2014

24.2 23.7 16.9 35.2

Feb 2014

23.0 25.0 15.6 36.4

Mar 2014

23.4 24.6 16.4 35.5

Apr 2014

24.7 24.4 15.4 35.4

May 2014

26.6 24.3 14.7 34.5

Jun 2014

25.6 25.6 15.9 32.9

Jul 2014

26.8 25.1 15.3 32.7

Aug 2014

27.7 25.2 15.9 31.3

Sep 2014

25.4 27.4 15.4 31.8

Oct 2014

27.5 25.2 15.3 32.0

Nov 2014

27.3 26.4 15.2 31.1

Dec 2014

27.1 26.5 14.4 32.0

Jan 2015

26.9 26.0 16.0 31.0

Feb 2015

28.1 25.9 15.3 30.7

Mar 2015

28.8 27.1 14.4 29.7

Apr 2015

30.9 27.3 12.6 29.2

May 2015

28.2 28.8 14.3 28.7

Jun 2015

28.0 28.9 16.8 26.2

Jul 2015

31.1 27.2 15.5 26.2

Aug 2015

26.5 29.4 16.4 27.8

Sep 2015

29.5 28.4 15.5 26.6

Oct 2015

29.6 28.5 15.1 26.9

Nov 2015

29.8 28.7 15.6 25.9

Dec 2015

30.2 27.6 15.5 26.8

Jan 2016

28.7 29.6 15.1 26.6

Feb 2016

29.3 28.6 14.6 27.5

Mar 2016

30.3 27.5 14.5 27.7

Apr 2016

31.9 26.7 15.6 25.8

May 2016

29.8 30.2 14.9 25.1

Jun 2016

31.0 28.1 14.8 26.1

Jul 2016

28.8 29.4 16.0 25.8

Aug 2016

30.1 29.8 14.1 26.0

Sep 2016

32.3 28.4 14.6 24.7

Oct 2016

30.9 29.0 14.8 25.3

Nov 2016

32.0 28.9 14.1 24.9

Dec 2016

31.2 28.3 15.8 24.7

Jan 2017

32.3 27.4 16.2 24.1

Feb 2017

34.2 28.3 13.9 23.5

Mar 2017

32.3 29.4 15.0 23.4

Apr 2017

32.1 29.9 15.2 22.8

May 2017

30.9 28.5 16.3 24.2

Jun 2017

33.4 28.2 13.6 24.9

Jul 2017

30.9 29.0 14.8 25.4

Aug 2017

31.6 28.4 15.2 24.7

Sep 2017

32.7 27.6 14.2 25.5

Oct 2017

32.4 29.6 13.0 25.0

Nov 2017

33.8 28.4 13.8 23.9

Dec 2017

33.7 30.1 13.3 22.9

Jan 2018

34.4 29.3 14.8 21.5

Feb 2018

37.2 28.3 13.8 20.7

Mar 2018

35.2 30.9 13.5 20.3

Those who were unemployed for less than 5 weeks accounted for 35.2 percent of the unemployed in March 2018, compared with 32.3 percent in March 2017.

These data are from the Current Population Survey and are seasonally adjusted. For more information, see "The Employment Situation — March 2018" (HTML) (PDF). More charts featuring Current Population Survey data are presented in Charts related to the latest "The Employment Situation" news release.

SUGGESTED CITATION

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, The Economics Daily, Long-term unemployed account for 20.3 percent of unemployed in March 2018, down from a year earlier at https://www.bls.gov/opub/ted/2018/long-term-unemployed-account-for-20-3-percent-of-unemployed-in-march-2018-down-from-a-year-earlier.htm (visited March 28, 2024).

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