When it comes to the unemployment rate in the United States, there is more to the numbers than meets the eye. Yes, the unemployment rate number has been inching down but the number of people looking for work for six months or more is unusually large. About 40 percent or 3.7 million of all people unemployed have been unemployed for more than 27 weeks, and that doesn't even count the number of people who have given up looking for a job.
While the ranks of the long-term unemployed have dropped since its 6.6 million peak in 2010, more Americans today have gone without a job for a longer period than any other time since the 1930's.
