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36.9 percent of unemployed jobless 27 weeks or more as pandemic continues, November 2020
December 09, 2020
The United States declared a national emergency in March 2020 due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unemployment rose by 1.4 million in March, with a large increase in the number of newly unemployed—that is, those unemployed for less than 5 weeks. Prior to the pandemic, those unemployed less than 5 weeks accounted for roughly one-third of the total unemployed, but this share increased to nearly one-half in March. In the months that followed, changes in the duration of joblessness reflected the evolving effects of the pandemic on the labor market.
Number of unemployed by duration of unemployment, January 2019–November 2020, seasonally adjusted
Month
Number of unemployed
Percent distribution
Total unemployed, any duration
Less than 5 weeks
5 to 14 weeks
15 to 26 weeks
27 weeks and over
Less than 5 weeks
5 to 14 weeks
15 to 26 weeks
27 weeks and over
Jan 2019
6,516,000
2,319,000
1,999,000
898,000
1,259,000
35.8%
30.9%
13.9%
19.4%
Feb 2019
6,181,000
2,169,000
1,809,000
928,000
1,279,000
35.1
29.3
15.0
20.7
Mar 2019
6,194,000
2,116,000
1,812,000
936,000
1,305,000
34.3
29.4
15.2
21.2
Apr 2019
5,850,000
1,906,000
1,835,000
860,000
1,227,000
32.7
31.5
14.8
21.1
May 2019
5,938,000
2,158,000
1,572,000
822,000
1,298,000
36.9
26.9
14.0
22.2
Jun 2019
5,985,000
1,949,000
1,832,000
776,000
1,413,000
32.6
30.7
13.0
23.7
Jul 2019
6,027,000
2,222,000
1,795,000
909,000
1,170,000
36.4
29.5
14.9
19.2
Aug 2019
5,999,000
2,218,000
1,746,000
831,000
1,251,000
36.7
28.9
13.7
20.7
Sep 2019
5,753,000
1,869,000
1,778,000
806,000
1,318,000
32.4
30.8
14.0
22.8
Oct 2019
5,857,000
1,978,000
1,747,000
884,000
1,259,000
33.7
29.8
15.1
21.5
Nov 2019
5,811,000
2,026,000
1,753,000
865,000
1,219,000
34.6
29.9
14.7
20.8
Dec 2019
5,753,000
2,065,000
1,730,000
812,000
1,186,000
35.6
29.9
14.0
20.5
Jan 2020
5,892,000
2,059,000
1,755,000
887,000
1,166,000
35.1
29.9
15.1
19.9
Feb 2020
5,787,000
2,013,000
1,803,000
825,000
1,102,000
35.1
31.4
14.4
19.2
Mar 2020
7,140,000
3,542,000
1,794,000
808,000
1,164,000
48.5
24.5
11.1
15.9
Apr 2020
23,078,000
14,283,000
7,004,000
833,000
939,000
61.9
30.4
3.6
4.1
May 2020
20,985,000
3,875,000
14,814,000
1,078,000
1,164,000
18.5
70.8
5.2
5.6
Jun 2020
17,750,000
2,838,000
11,496,000
1,903,000
1,391,000
16.1
65.2
10.8
7.9
Jul 2020
16,338,000
3,202,000
5,169,000
6,484,000
1,501,000
19.6
31.6
39.6
9.2
Aug 2020
13,550,000
2,281,000
3,134,000
6,517,000
1,624,000
16.8
23.1
48.1
12.0
Sep 2020
12,580,000
2,552,000
2,732,000
4,918,000
2,405,000
20.2
21.7
39.0
19.1
Oct 2020
11,061,000
2,500,000
2,275,000
2,617,000
3,556,000
22.8
20.8
23.9
32.5
Nov 2020
10,735,000
2,467,000
2,413,000
1,857,000
3,941,000
23.1
22.6
17.4
36.9
Note: Detail for the seasonally adjusted data will not necessarily sum to total because of the independent seasonal adjustment of the duration groups.
For instance, in April 2020, the share of the unemployed who were unemployed for less than 5 weeks increased to 61.9 percent, and those unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks grew to 30.4 percent. Because of the large and rapid influx of newly unemployed people, the long-term unemployed—those looking for work for 27 weeks or more—initially accounted for a declining share of the total unemployed, representing only 4.1 percent of the total unemployed in April, the smallest share since 1953.
The total number of unemployed persons began to decrease in May, when economic activity in many areas resumed on a limited basis. Despite this improvement in unemployment, the overwhelming majority of the unemployed—70.8 percent—had by that time been unemployed for 5 to 14 weeks, as much of the initial wave of unemployment remained without work and moved into longer duration categories.
Even though total unemployment continued to decline in June and July, the composition of unemployment still shifted to longer durations. By July, the largest share of the unemployed, at 39.6 percent, were unemployed for 15 to 26 weeks. In September, 6 months after the emergency declaration, the share unemployed for 27 weeks or longer was growing rapidly. By November, the long-term unemployed accounted for the largest share of the unemployed at 36.9 percent.
United States Department of Labor
