Slightly more than half of jobless Americans have quit looking for work, according to a Harris poll released this week.
They haven’t been on a job interview since 2014. Nearly half, 48 percent, blame themselves for their unemployment. Two years ago, 45 percent of respondents blamed the economy.
Unemployment, no matter the cause, has become “a chronic condition,” according to Bob Funk, the CEO of Express Employment Professionals, a job placement service which commissioned the poll.
“It’s frightening to see this many people who could work say they have given up,” Funk, a former chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, said in a statement. “The country can’t afford to let this many people fall behind.”
Harris surveyed 1,513 jobless Americans age 18 and older in early May.
Forty-three percent of respondents agreed with this statement: “I’ve completely given up on looking for a job.” Two years ago, 47 percent agreed. Most of the respondents lack a college degree.
The national unemployment rate declined to 4.7 percent in May. The drop, though, was due largely to a decline in the labor force participation rate. A record 95 million Americans are not in the labor force, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.
“This is a tale of two economies,” said Funk. “Those with skills and jobs are seeing a slow but steady recovery from the days of the Great Recession. But far too many are still being left behind.”
