Paul Davidson, USA TODAY 5:31 a.m. EDT September 22, 2014
More than 20% of Americans laid off the past five years are still unemployed and one in four who found work is in a temporary job, according to a survey out Monday.
The report underscores that despite a sharp drop in long-term unemployment recently, many people out of work at least six months are still struggling to recoup their former wages and lifestyles. Those idled for years face an even tougher road back to employment.
"While the worst effects of the Great Recession are over for most Americans, the brutal realities of diminished living standards endure for the 3 million American workers who remain jobless years after they were laid off," says Carl Van Horn, director of the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University.
The center conducted the survey of 1,153 Americans, about 300 of them long-term unemployed, from July 24 to Aug. 3.
The ranks of the long-term unemployed have fallen by 31% the past year to 3 million. But many of those hired are in temporary or part-time slots, or full-time positions that pay less than their previous salaries.
For more of the story: http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/business/2014/09/22/rutgers-survey-long-term-unemployed/15901129/