N.J.’s long-term unemployed rate worse than 48 states

Congressmen Scott Garrett  points out  ,” Really disappointing news. It’s time to do away with the stale, failed ideas of the past. We must unleash our economy and help get our people back to work. The House has passed more than 40 jobs bills that are#StuckInTheSenate; it’s time for the Senate to take action.” 

N.J.’s long-term unemployed rate worse than 48 states
By Erin O’Neill | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
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on October 15, 2014 at 6:50 AM, updated October 15, 2014 at 7:41 AM

Nearly half of jobless residents in New Jersey have been out of work for more than six months, according to a new report, a level that ranks the state among the worst in the country.

The brief released today by New Jersey Policy Perspective notes the “long-term unemployment crisis is a national problem” but found every other state except Florida fared better than New Jersey. Also, while the share of long-term unemployed in New Jersey has fallen from its peak in 2010, the brief found that drop has not been as sharp as it has nationally.

“We’re in a much deeper pickle than most of the rest of the country,” said Gordon MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal-leaning think tank. “The reason for that is pretty plain: we haven’t produced enough jobs for people who are unemployed over a long period of time to fill.”

The report, which relies on analysis of federal labor data by the Economic Policy Institute, shows that 46.3 percent of the state’s jobless residents were unemployed for more than six months as of March 2014, compared to the state’s peak of 51.4 percent in December 2010. Those values represent 12-month moving averages.

On the national level, the share of long-term unemployed peaked at nearly 44 percent of all jobless residents in November 2011 and has since dropped to roughly 37 percent.

Only Florida had a larger share of long-term unemployed among the states in March at 46.5 percent.

https://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2014/10/njs_share_of_long-term_unemployed_ranks_among_worst_in_us_data_shows.html#incart_m-rpt-1