'really Hard To Find A Job': 1.7 Million Job Seekers Have Been Looking For Work For At Least 6 Months

Job hunters are having a reliable clip reentering nan workforce.

According to a Sunday study from nan Wall Street Journal, it now takes business seekers an mean of six months to find employment, a play overmuch than successful years past.

The number of group unemployed, meaning without a business but trying to find work, is too higher now than it was astatine nan aforesaid clip past year. According to nan U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' latest Employment Situation report, nan unemployment title roseate from 3.7% successful November 2023 to 4.2% successful November 2024.

The report, which was released connected December 6, 2024, stated that 7.1 cardinal group were retired of activity compared to 6.3 cardinal group astatine nan aforesaid clip past year.

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The number of semipermanent unemployed group is too up. In November, 1.7 cardinal group said they had been looking for activity for astatine slightest 27 weeks, aliases adjacent to 7 months, compared to 1.2 cardinal group past year.

Continuing applications for unemployment are too reaching record-high levels, indicating that it's taking business seekers longer to find work. Bloomberg reported successful precocious December that continuing applications for unemployment benefits reached a three-year high, rising to 1.91 cardinal for nan week ending December 14.

"Labor marketplace conditions are undeniably cooling," EY elder economist Lydia Boussour told Entrepreneur past month.

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According to nan WSJ, it's peculiarly difficult to find a business successful tech, law, and media. Companies hired overmuch successful these sectors erstwhile coming backmost from nan pandemic but personification now trim down connected their petition for caller hires.

As these high-paying white-collar jobs vanish from business boards, business postings personification diminished successful magnitude overall. According to nan Journal, there's conscionable 1 business posting per unemployed worker now alternatively of nan 2 business postings disposable successful early 2022.

"Hiring is excessively low; it's really difficult to find a job," Guy Berger, main economist astatine labour marketplace group nan Burning Glass Institute, told CNBC past month.

A caller Gallup canvass released successful December adds different facet to nan mix. The canvass shows that U.S. workers who are presently employed are looking for activity astatine nan highest level since 2015. The majority, aliases 51%, are actively seeking a caller job, adding to nan title that unemployed workers face.

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