Analysis: The U.S. Long-Term Unemployment Rate Has Skyrocketed, Surpassing All Economic Recessions Outside of 2020 and 2008

BlockBeats News, September 8th, TheKobeissiLetter released data analysis indicating that the U.S. long-term unemployment rate is skyrocketing at an alarming rate: in August, the number of long-term unemployed in the U.S. surged to 1.94 million, the highest level since November 2021. Since December 2022, the number of Americans unemployed for 27 weeks or more has more than doubled, with the proportion of individuals unemployed for over 27 weeks rising to 26.3%, the highest level since February 2022. The number of long-term unemployed in the U.S. has increased by nearly 10 percentage points in just 20 months, a proportion now higher than in all recessions except for 2020 and 2008. There is no doubt that the U.S. job market is in decline.

Over the past 4 months, excluding the healthcare industry, the U.S. has lost 142,200 jobs, the most since 2020. U.S. non-farm employment excluding healthcare decreased by -53,000 in May, -71,800 in June, and -24,800 in August. In the last 25 years, such a rapid decline following several years of growth has always coincided with the start of an economic recession. Employment in other private sectors has also shrunk, making the U.S. job market much weaker than it seems.