SPY & Long-Term Unemployment (27+ Weeks)
The number of civilians who have been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer, measured in thousands.
SPY Price
Unemployed 27+ Weeks
What It Measures
Long-term unemployment measures the number of people (in thousands) who have been actively seeking work for 27 weeks (approximately 6 months) or more. This is a subset of the total unemployed population and captures the most entrenched joblessness in the economy. Key aspects: - Counts individuals unemployed for 27 weeks or longer - Part of the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS) household survey - Seasonally adjusted to remove recurring patterns - Expressed in thousands of persons
Why It Matters
**Structural Health Indicator**: Long-term unemployment reveals whether joblessness is cyclical (temporary) or structural (persistent), which has very different policy implications. **Skills Erosion**: Workers unemployed for extended periods face skill depreciation, making them harder to re-employ — a phenomenon economists call "hysteresis." **Consumer Spending Drag**: Long-term unemployed individuals exhaust savings and reduce spending more severely than short-term unemployed, amplifying economic downturns. **Fed Policy Signal**: The Federal Reserve monitors long-term unemployment as an indicator of labor market slack that headline unemployment may understate. **Social Cost**: Extended unemployment is associated with worse health outcomes, lower lifetime earnings, and reduced labor force attachment.
Key Levels
Data Sources
SPY: S&P 500 ETF daily OHLCV data (1993-02-02 to 2026-03-30)
Long-Term Unemployed: UEMP27OV - Long-Term Unemployment (27+ Weeks) from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Units: , ,