If you lose a job in Florida, chances are you will take a long time to find another. Florida has the maximum rate of long-term unemployment in the nation. According to a latest census data, more than 53 percent of jobless Floridians are without work for six months or longer-worse than any other nation.
As per the researchers, Nevada and New Jersey also had at least 50 percent of their jobless people without work for six months or longer. Many of long-term unemployed in Florida and other states were in the hardest hit sectors of manufacturing, construction and government. Adam Looney, director at The Brookings Institution believes that lack of worker mobility, owing to the housing crisis also has led to prolonged unemployment in Florida.
The time period a person is unemployed depends on certain factors including their background, work history and the kind of job they are searching for. Typically, unemployment is lower in the spring and summer months for the reason that many hospitality jobs reopen for the tourist season.
In the previous year, unemployment in Florida dipped to 9.9 percent, as nearly 130,000 jobs were created. In between October 2008 and April 2009, an average of 700,000 American workers became jobless each month which contributed to the worst decline in the employment. Research says that that people who became unemployed during the recession—particularly those who had been employed for longer time often make considerably less even when they do find work, impacting the quality of life for them and their families.
Involuntary job loss can be a disturbing experience in ordinary times but latest research illustrates that outcomes of unemployment are worse for workers and their families at the time of recessions. All through economic downturns, those who bear job loss tend to be out of work for longer duration, resulting in higher earning losses. As a result of the Great Recession, unemployment’s average duration is at its highest level since record-keeping commenced in 1948.
The Hamilton Project inspected the employment and earning summaries of full-time workers who were out of work for economic reasons between October 2008 and April 2009, and followed their employment and earnings in the two-years after their job loss.
Before suffering job losses, these people made roughly $3,640 per month, or $43,700 annually on average. Being unemployed for two years, the average earnings of these workers was reduced to $1,910 per month and nearly $23,000 annually which is 48 percent lower than their average pre-job earnings.
According to Looney, the length of job hunt has not got shorter. Whether you are out of work for a month, six months or a year, it’s harder to find a job before the recession. As per a study, the nation’s dreary job growth is contributing to long-term unemployment.
Being without a job for longer duration is possibly the singular tragedy of the Great Recession and nowhere is it more sharp than in Florida. Wait for the exit polls to scream economic angst, and as the race to Nevada, you can expect lots of promises for the old and jobless.