Office of Publications & Special Studies

Long-term unemployment experience of the jobless

Table 1. Selected labor force and unemployment measures by age, 2007–09 annual averages
Age and characteristic	2007	2008	2009
Long-term unemployment rate
Total, 16 and older	0.8	1.1	2.9
16 to 24 years	1.3	1.8	4.1
25 to 54 years	0.7	1.0	2.8
55 years and older	0.7	1.0	2.6
Distribution of long-term unemployment
Total, 16 and older	100.0	100.0	100.0
16 to 24 years	22.5	22.3	19.5
25 to 54 years	62.3	62.2	63.8
55 years and older	15.1	15.6	16.7
Distribution of the labor force
Total, 16 and older	100.0	100.0	100.0
16 to 24 years	14.5	14.3	13.9
25 to 54 years	68.1	67.7	67.3
55 years and older	17.3	18.1	18.8
Percent unemployed 27 weeks and over
Total, 16 and older	17.6	19.7	31.5
16 to 24 years	11.9	13.8	23.3
25 to 54 years	19.9	21.8	33.4
55 years and older	22.7	25.7	39.4
Average number of weeks unemployed
Total, 16 and older	16.8	17.9	24.4
16 to 24 years	12.9	14.0	19.9
25 to 54 years	18.3	19.2	25.3
55 years and older	21.1	22.0	29.5
NOTE: Long-term unemployment is defined as the number of persons unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. The long-term unemployment rate is defined as the share of a particular group's labor force total that has been unemployed for 27 weeks or more.