While blue-collar and construction workers have been battered by the recession, they aren't the only ones hit. Unemployed production workers, including toolmakers, woodworkers and food processors, have been out of work for a median of 38.1 weeks. Unemployed workers whose most recent job was in management, business and financial operations have typically been out of work for 32.3 weeks.

Richard Moran of Ortonville, Mich., the state with the highest U.S. unemployment rate, hasn't had a job for two-and-a-half years. The 57-year-old, who was laid off from a testing and design job for Chrysler Group LLC, suspects his age is working against him.

Mr. Moran has attended two free training programs. The first, to become a corrections officer, ended at roughly the same time that Michigan was closing prisons amid tightening budgets. He recently finished an auto-parts design course to refresh his skills. "The certificates are piling up," said Mr. Moran, who also has a four-year college degree in mass communications.

While education is helpful, college graduates have also fallen into the ranks of the long-term unemployed. They represent 15.9% of the long-term jobless, compared with 14.9% of all unemployed workers. Those with high school degrees who haven't been to college comprise 40.7% of long-term unemployed, compared with 37.8% of all unemployed workers.

Mr. Moran's wife earns a good salary at Baker College so the couple has been able to keep up on the mortgage and other bills, but they have cut back on extras. Meanwhile, their 19-year-old daughter snagged two jobs at a nearby mall. "It's very depressing when your daughter's got two jobs, your wife's got a good job, and you can't find anything," he said.

Mr. Moran said he feared the shame and anxiety of long-term unemployment would overwhelm him. He grew depressed and withdrawn before discovering free therapy sessions at a nearby college, which he now attends in addition to taking antianxiety medication. "It seems like no matter what I do, it fizzles," he said. "But there's always a hope."

上一页  [1] [2]