The job search is taking longer than it used to

Some 7 million Americans are currently unemployed—and of those workers, 1.6 million have been looking for a new job for at least six months.

The past year has seen strong job growth in the U.S., with employers adding more than 2 million jobs during 2024. But for people who have been laid off or are otherwise unemployed, those figures don’t capture the challenges of navigating the current job market.