U.S. Long-Term Unemployed Share

## What this measures

The share of unemployed people who have been out of work for more than six months.

## Why it matters

Long spells are where job loss turns into lost skills and lower lifetime earnings. A rising share means the people losing work are struggling to find the next job.

## How to read it

Read it alongside median weeks unemployed (fred_unemployment_median_weeks). It tends to rise after the overall unemployment rate does.

## What it does not say

It doesn't say which occupations the long-term unemployed came from, and people who stop looking drop out of it.

## Source

Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey, series LNS13025703 ("Of Total Unemployed, Percent Unemployed 27 Weeks & over"). Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly. Bureau of Labor Statistics data are in the public domain.