Long-term unemployed a huge problem

What happens to the more than six million Americans who have been out of work for six months or more? From NPR's Planet Money:

The longer people are unemployed, the less likely they are to find a new job. This is partly due to the fact that the most employable people -- those whose skills are in highest demand -- get snapped up right away. But there are also more insidious forces at work. As Ben Bernanke recently pointed out, the skills of unemployed workers erode, making it harder for them to find a new job. Employers may be wary of hiring someone who has been out of work for a long time. And after months of searching, the unemployed tend to spend less time looking for work. "After a long period of unemployment, affected workers may become effectively unemployable," economists at the Richmond Fed wrote in a paper published this week.

For those of us who are convinced that the recession has led to a fundamental - and permanent - restructuring of the economy, these folks run the risk of falling far, far behind, especially the ones who are over 50.