Politi: scramble on jobs policy

"",...the joint economic committee released a report last week on long-term unemployment among black people in the US...

...The study, which was the focus of a rare public hearing of the Congressional Black Caucus, a powerful group of 42 African-American lawmakers, found that the typical unemployment spell for black people had more than doubled, from 11.2 weeks in February 2007 to 23.8 weeks last month.

But the surge in long-term unemployment is by no means unique to minorities. The median duration of joblessness in the US labour force as a whole has risen at an even faster rate - from 8.8 weeks in February 2007 to 19.6 weeks last month. This problem has left US policymakers, economists and legislators scrambling for solutions amid fears that long-term unemployment could delay the recovery.