by Mark Gleason

photo by Hassan Ali

It's getting harder for the laid-off to find new work

The average unemployed American has been out of work for 28.5 weeks, according to the latest unemployment report from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That’s a sharp jump from a year ago, when the average duration of unemployment was 19 weeks. The jump has been even sharper at the median, which has doubled from 10 weeks to 20 weeks during the same period. (The median is the midpoint, meaning half of all 15.4 million unemployed have been out longer than 20 weeks.) Clearly, those displaced from their jobs during this recession are struggling mightily to break back into the working ranks.