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Discouraged worker
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==United States== [[Image:Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession Issues in Labor Statistics issue in labor stats apr2009.gif|thumb|Discouraged Workers (US, 2004-09)]] In the [[United States]], a discouraged worker is defined as a person not in the labor force who wants and is available for a job and who has looked for work sometime in the past 12 months (or since the end of his or her last job if a job was held within the past 12 months), but who is not currently looking because of real or perceived poor employment prospects.<ref name="econbook">{{cite book |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Arthur |author-link1=Arthur O'Sullivan (economist) |last2=Sheffrin |first2=Steven M. |title=Economics: Principles in Action |edition=2nd |series=''The Wall Street Journal'': Classroom Edition |year=2003 |orig-year= January 2002|publisher= Pearson Prentice Hall: Addison Wesley Longman|location=Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 |isbn=978-0-13-063085-8 |page= 336}}</ref><ref name="uslabor">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/bls/glossary.htm|title=BLS Information |date=February 28, 2008|work=Glossary|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services |access-date=2009-05-05}}</ref><ref name="cbo">{{cite web|url=http://www.cbo.gov/budget/glossary.shtml |title=Glossary |publisher=Congressional Budget Office |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090506160319/https://www.cbo.gov/budget/glossary.shtml |archive-date=May 6, 2009 }}</ref> The [[Bureau of Labor Statistics]] does not count discouraged workers as unemployed but rather refers to them as only "marginally attached to the labor force".<ref name="bls7">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/1998/07/art3full.pdf|title=Persons outside the labor force who want a job|last=Castillo|first=Monica D. |date=July 1998|work=Monthly Labor Review|publisher=LABSTAT Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref><ref name="heritage">{{cite web|url=http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm389.cfm|title=Tracking the Long-Term Unemployed and Discouraged Workers|last=Hederman Jr.|first=Rea S.|date=January 9, 2004|work=WebMemo #389|publisher=The heritage foundation|access-date=2009-05-10|url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090609065943/http://www.heritage.org/research/taxes/wm389.cfm|archive-date=June 9, 2009}}</ref><ref name="NYT">{{cite web|url=https://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/job-pie/#more-10539|title=Job Market Pie|last=Rampell |first=Catherine |date=April 30, 2009<!--, 1:24 pm -->|work=Business: Economicx|publisher=The New York Times|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref> This means that the officially measured unemployment captures so-called "frictional unemployment" and not much else.<ref name="ludwig1">{{cite web|url=http://blog.mises.org/archives/002234.asp|title=The Sin of Wages?|last=Garrison|first=Roger |date=July 12, 2004<!-- 10:38 AM -->|work=Archives|publisher=Ludwig von Mises Institute |access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref> This has led some economists to believe that the actual unemployment rate in the United States is higher than what is officially reported while others suggest that discouraged workers voluntarily choose not to work.<ref name="sfgate">{{cite web|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/11/17/BU239666.DTL|title= Jobless statistics overlook many Official numbers omit discouraged seekers, part-time workers|last= Zuckerman|first=Sam|date=November 17, 2002|work=Business|publisher=San Francisco Chronicle|access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref> Nonetheless, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has published the discouraged worker rate in [http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm alternative measures of labor underutilization] under U-4 since 1994 when the most recent redesign of the [[Current Population Survey|CPS]] was implemented.<ref name="bls4">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t12.htm|title=Alternative measures of labor underutilization|date=May 8, 2009 |work=Economic News Release|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Current Employment Statistics |access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref><ref name="bls5">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils67.pdf|title=The Unemployment Rate and Beyond: Alternative Measures of Labor Underutilization (Issues in Labor Statistics, Summary 08-06, June 2008)|date=June 2008|work=Issues in labor statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref> The [[United States Department of Labor]] first began tracking discouraged workers in 1967 and found 500,000 at the time.<ref name="time">{{cite web|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973773,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080308030019/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,973773,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 8, 2008|title=Down And Out: "Discouraged" Workers|last=McCARROLL|first=THOMAS |date=Sep 9, 1991|work=magazine|publisher=Time magazine|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref> Today, In the [[United States]], according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics as of April 2009, there are 740,000 discouraged workers.<ref name="dollandsense">{{cite web|url=http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/05/black-male-unemployment-jumps-to-172.html |title=Black Male Unemployment Jumps to 17.2% |date=May 8, 2009 |publisher=Dollars & Sense |access-date=2009-05-10 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090512200821/http://www.dollarsandsense.org/blog/2009/05/black-male-unemployment-jumps-to-172.html |archive-date=May 12, 2009 }}</ref><ref name="bls2">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm|title=Employment Situation Summary|date=May 8, 2009 |work=Economic News Release|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Labor Force Statistics |access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref> There is an ongoing debate as to whether discouraged workers should be included in the official [[unemployment rate]].<ref name="time" /> Over time, it has been shown that a disproportionate number of young people, blacks, Hispanics, and men make up discouraged workers.<ref name="issuesinlabor">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils74.pdf|title=Issues in Labor Statistics: Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession|date=May 1, 2009|work=Issues in Labor Statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Division of Information Services |pages=2|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref><ref name="washington post">{{cite web|url=http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/actual_us_unemployment_158.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090515045759/http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2009/05/actual_us_unemployment_158.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 15, 2009|title=Actual U.S. Unemployment: 15.8%|last=Ahrens|first=Frank |date=May 8, 2009 <!-- ; 3:25 PM ET --> |work=Economy Watch|publisher=The Washington Post|access-date=2009-05-10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2011-06-01|title=Unemployment and labor force participation in the United States|url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165176511000723|journal=Economics Letters|language=en|volume=111|issue=3|pages=203β206|doi=10.1016/j.econlet.2011.02.022|issn=0165-1765|last1=Emerson|first1=Jamie|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Nonetheless, it is generally believed that the number of discouraged workers is underestimated because it does not include homeless people or those who have not looked for or held a job during the past twelve months and is often poorly tracked.<ref name="time" /><ref name="hartford">{{cite web|url=http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctjobless0419.artapr19,0,3865644.story|title='Hidden Unemployment' Inflates State's Real Jobless Figures|last=PODSADA|first=JANICE|date=April 19, 2009|work=Business|publisher=The Hartford Courant|access-date=2009-05-10|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429100007/http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctjobless0419.artapr19,0,3865644.story|archive-date=April 29, 2009}}</ref> According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the top five reasons for discouragement are the following:<ref name="bls6">{{cite web|url=http://www.bls.gov/opub/ils/pdf/opbils74.pdf|title=Ranks of Discouraged Workers and Others Marginally Attached to the Labor Force Rise During Recession|date=April 2009|work=Issues in Labor Statistics|publisher=U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|access-date=2009-05-12}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Liu|first=De-Chih|date=November 2017|title=The Discouraged Worker and Suicide in the United States|url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11205-016-1437-8|journal=Social Indicators Research|language=en|volume=134|issue=2|pages=771β787|doi=10.1007/s11205-016-1437-8|s2cid=152002712|issn=0303-8300|url-access=subscription}}</ref> #The worker thinks no work is available. #The worker could not find work. #The worker lacks schooling or training. #The worker is viewed as too young or too old by the prospective employer. #The worker is the target of various types of discrimination. As the world navigates through the effects of the global coronavirus pandemic, a growing number of job seekers in the United States are becoming discouraged, leaving the labor force entirely, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of government data.<ref name="Parker">{{Cite web|last1=Parker|first1=Kim|last2=Minkin|first2=Rachel|last3=Bennett|first3=Jesse|date=2020-09-24|title=Economic Fallout From COVID-19 Continues To Hit Lower-Income Americans the Hardest|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2020/09/24/economic-fallout-from-covid-19-continues-to-hit-lower-income-americans-the-hardest/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Pew Research Centerβs Social & Demographic Trends Project|language=en-US}}</ref> The number of Americans who are out of work and have experienced long-term unemployment, while still continuing to look for a job for more than six months, has increased considerably in the year since the start of the COVID-19 recession.<ref name="Bennett">{{Cite web|last=Bennett|first=Jesse|title=Long-term unemployment has risen sharply in U.S. amid the pandemic, especially among Asian Americans|url=https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/03/11/long-term-unemployment-has-risen-sharply-in-u-s-amid-the-pandemic-especially-among-asian-americans/|access-date=2021-12-11|website=Pew Research Center|date=11 March 2021 |language=en-US}}</ref> During periods of economic weakness, the labor force participation rate in the United States has tended to decline during economic downturns. During the 2007β09 recession, the unemployment rate for discouraged workers more than doubled. From late 2007 to early 2011, the number of discouraged workers increased from about 350,000 to a peak of about 1.3 million.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Cunningham,Evan|title=Great Recession, great recovery? Trends from the Current Population Survey : Monthly Labor Review: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics|url=https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2018/article/great-recession-great-recovery.htm|access-date=2021-12-11|website=www.bls.gov|language=en-us}}</ref> The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reports that the lingering effects of the 2007β2009 recession and the slow recovery will continue to restrain participation.<ref name="cbo.gov">{{Cite web|date=2018-02-07|title=Factors Affecting the Labor Force Participation of People Ages 25 to 54 {{!}} Congressional Budget Office|url=https://www.cbo.gov/publication/53452|access-date=2021-12-11|website=www.cbo.gov|language=en}}</ref> The effects of the coronavirus greatly impacted the United States economy. Pew Research Center reports that overall, 25% of U.S. adults say they or someone in their household was laid off or lost their job because of the coronavirus outbreak, with 15% saying this happened to them personally.<ref name="Parker"/> Nearly 529,000 Americans were classified as discouraged workers in February 2021, roughly 100,000 more than the number one year ago.<ref name="Bennett"/> As a result of the coronavirus pandemic, labor market participation rate sharply declined due to the lack of job opportunities that perpetuated discourage people from searching for employment. Like most economic crisis as the labor market improves and jobs becomes more plentiful, unemployed workers will reenter the labor force. CBO expects that discouraged workers are likely to continue to reenter the labor force as more people find jobs and wage growth increases.<ref name="cbo.gov"/>
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