Not all Americans are enjoying the slow economic rebound. A poll found that about half of unemployed workers say they have given up looking for a job.
A Harris poll on behalf of Express Employment Professionals conducted last month found that 47% of such workers say they have "completely given up looking for work." The survey of 1,500 unemployed adult Americans also found that 82% of those who receive unemployment compensation say they would look harder for a job if those payments ran out. The other 18% agreed with the statement that they would be in such despair, they would give up looking for work altogether.
Among other findings, the survey also revealed that 60% of respondents feel that looking for work has been harder than expected, and 10% say it's been easier than they thought. Overall, 91% agree with the following statement: “I’m hopeful that I will find a job I really want in the next six months.”
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported [PDF] that the national unemployment rate fell by 0.4% to 6.3% in April, the lowest rate since the 2008 economic collapse. The number of long-term unemployed (people who have been jobless for 27 weeks or more) fell by 287,000 to 3.5 million, the BLS reported.
It's unclear whether such workers found jobs or stopped looking. A recent paper by Washington think tank The Brookings Institution tracked people who had been out of work for six months of more. The study found that 23% got jobs within six months, but about a third of that group were out of work again within a year.
Courtesy of Mashable
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