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america's dynamic workforce: 2008 |
Figure 3-8. Incidence of long-term unemployment in
2007, United States and selected countries
SOURCE: OECD.Stat.
NOTE: Long-term unemployment refers to unemployment spells lasting one year
or longer. Data for the eurozone exclude Slovenia.
- A low unemployment rate, though laudable, may be little comfort to
persons who are seeking work. In a truly vibrant labor market, low
unemployment is coupled with low incidence of long-term unemployment. Europe
and Japan differ starkly in their unemployment rates; however, both areas
exhibit high degrees of long-term unemployment, defined as a period of
unemployment lasting at least one year.
- Over half of unemployed workers in Germany and nearly half in Italy were
out of work for at least a year in 2007. The eurozone average of 43.9
percent was not much lower. In Japan, one out of three unemployed persons
had been looking for work for at least a year. In the United States, the
ratio was just one out of ten. South Korea can boast of a ratio of
approximately one in one hundred.
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