3.4 million Americans are still long-term unemployed

About 3.4 million Americans were long-term unemployed in July, a reduction of about 560,000 from the previous month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

However, the figure remains high compared to pre-pandemic levels. About 2 in 5 unemployed people are long-term unemployed, which means that they have been unemployed for at least six months.

The reduction came on the heels of a stronger than expected July employment report. Hiring grew at its fastest rate in almost a year, as the economy created 943,000 jobs and the US unemployment rate fell to 5.4%.

The number of job vacancies jumped to more than 10 million in June, the highest on record, the Labor Department reported on Monday.

The number of long-term unemployed remains 2.3 million higher than in February 2020. Nearly 2.5 million people were unemployed for at least a year in July, according to the BLS, down 406,000 people per year. report to June.