Job Searches in 2003 the Longest in 20 Years

[mhr]

Job Searches in 2003 the Longest in 20 Years
Fri January 9, 2004 03:35 PM ET

By Jonathan Nicholson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The year 2003 was the most difficult for U.S. job hunters since 1983, as they faced the gloomiest job market in years, according to Labor Department figures released on Friday.

The unemployment rate was the highest since 1994, and the search for a new job was the longest in two decades.

According to Labor Department data, the average spell of unemployment lasted 19.2 weeks in 2003, or almost five months. That was the longest average duration since 1983, when the U.S. economy was emerging from the worst recession since the Depression. Then the average spell was 20.0 weeks.

As a percentage of all the unemployed, the long-term jobless -- those out of work for 27 weeks or more -- made up 22.1 percent in 2003, the highest annual number since 23.9 percent in 1983.

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http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=domesticNews&storyID=4103356

[Kolesar]

1. What a coincidence--I got my degree in 1983

Things were especially bad in industrial Ohio when the steel mills were closing.

[nyrnyr1994]

2. I'll be at 52 weeks...

sometime this March, hopefully this "streak" ends before then.

[Sir_Shrek]

3. Ever since I got out of college...

...in 2000 it seems like it's taken me at least 3-4 months.