Long-Term Unemployment (27+ weeks)
Long-term unemployment counts the people who have been actively seeking work for 27 weeks or more, the most entrenched slice of joblessness in the economy. Drawn from the monthly BLS household survey and reported in thousands, it reveals whether unemployment is cyclical and temporary or structural and persistent — a distinction with very different policy stakes.
Latest reading
As of May 2026, LT Unemployment (Unemployed 27+ weeks) stands at 2K — up from 2K the prior reading. Below 1M reflects a tight market with little entrenched joblessness; 1M-2M is normal, and readings above 2M signal structural problems or a weakening economy. It is a lagging indicator — long-term unemployment peaks well after recessions end, as these workers face the hardest road back. Even a rising trend off low levels can flag deterioration before the headline jobless rate reacts. Series history runs from 1993 to present.
Unemployed 27+ weeks
Next release: Jul 02, 2026
Full history
How to read it
Below 1M reflects a tight market with little entrenched joblessness; 1M-2M is normal, and readings above 2M signal structural problems or a weakening economy. It is a lagging indicator — long-term unemployment peaks well after recessions end, as these workers face the hardest road back. Even a rising trend off low levels can flag deterioration before the headline jobless rate reacts.
Methodology & data
LT Unemployment is sourced from BLS via the Federal Reserve's FRED service (BLS via FRED (UEMP27OV), monthly, seasonally adjusted). We pull the complete history, chart it on a monthly basis, overlay SPY for context, and generate a dated plain-English reading from the latest release — with no smoothing or adjustment beyond what the chart legend states.
Every reading is stamped with its release date, last updated 2026-06-09. See our methodology for the standards every series on the site is held to.
- Category
- Labor
- Frequency
- Monthly
- Source
- BLS
Related indicators
Frequently asked questions
What is the Long-Term Unemployment (27+ weeks)?
Long-term unemployment counts the people who have been actively seeking work for 27 weeks or more, the most entrenched slice of joblessness in the economy. Drawn from the monthly BLS household survey and reported in thousands, it reveals whether unemployment is cyclical and temporary or structural and persistent — a distinction with very different policy stakes.
How do you read LT Unemployment?
Below 1M reflects a tight market with little entrenched joblessness; 1M-2M is normal, and readings above 2M signal structural problems or a weakening economy. It is a lagging indicator — long-term unemployment peaks well after recessions end, as these workers face the hardest road back. Even a rising trend off low levels can flag deterioration before the headline jobless rate reacts.
Where does the LT Unemployment data come from?
BLS via FRED (UEMP27OV), monthly, seasonally adjusted. We chart the full history and publish a dated, plain-English reading with every release; the raw series is downloadable as CSV at /data/indicators/long-term-unemployment.csv.
How often is LT Unemployment updated?
LT Unemployment is a monthly series from BLS, refreshed here as soon as a new release posts to FRED.