27 Weeks Is a Long Time

The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that in January the unemployment rate declined for the second month in a row– resulting in 6000,000 people stopped identifying as unemployed during the month of January.  The chart below from the Bureau of Labor Statistics depicts both the unemployment rate and the number of unemployed.

Out of the large number of unemployed people in the United States, it’s important for recruiters to know that nearly half have been unemployed for a long time.  Although this figure dropped slightly in January, still nearly forty-four percent of the unemployed have been out of work for more than twenty-seven weeks.

Recruiters may want to remember this startling percentage of people out of work for long time as they review resumes.  Probably this grim reality will be reflected between the lines of well-crafted resumes.  It’s up to the recruiters to figure out how to creatively address this economic conundrum.

Those that have been out of work for a long time need to get back to receiving a paycheck and benefits, even if their resumes have some infamous “holes” in them.