Long-term unemployment has hidden costs. The article calls them "hidden." Nothing hidden about them. You lose money when you stop receiving money. Groundbreaking stuff from the economics department at Captain Obvious University.
The ramifications linger even after reentry into the workforce. "Reentry into the workforce" is what we call getting another job now. Love the space shuttle terminology for filling out applications at Wendy's. Makes the whole thing sound like a NASA mission instead of what it actually is, which is checking the box that says you have reliable transportation when you definitely do not have reliable transportation.
Financial ramifications. Right. Your bank account goes down. Emotional ramifications. You feel bad. Family health ramifications. Everyone gets mad at you. These costs were hidden the same way a freight train is hidden when it's coming directly at your face. Real secret stuff.
The economy suffers too, apparently. Because when Bob from accounting stops buying his daily $8 cold brew, the entire GDP collapses like a house of cards. The Federal Reserve is monitoring the situation. They're very concerned about Bob. They have a whole department dedicated to Bob's emotional wellbeing and his family's lingering resentment.
Here's what kills me about this headline. "Surging" unemployment. Surging. Like it's a wave at a beach or a power surge or something exciting. Nothing surges. It goes up. Say it goes up. Your need to make unemployment sound like an X Games event doesn't make the article more readable.
The workers face challenges reentering the workforce after extended absences. Translation: nobody wants to hire you after you've been unemployed for a year because they assume you're either incompetent or you've spent the entire time learning day trading from TikTok. They're usually right about the TikTok thing.
But thank god we have this article explaining that being unemployed for a long time is bad. Revolutionary journalism. Next week they'll investigate whether getting hit by a bus has negative health outcomes, and whether those outcomes might persist even after the bus stops hitting you.
Photo by Library of Congress on Unsplash
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