Fed’s Pianalto Says U.S. Long-Term Unemployment ‘Troubling’

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto said that long-term unemployment is “particularly troubling” for the U.S. economy, and a lack of demand is causing high jobless rates.

“A particularly troubling aspect of our current unemployment problem is the long duration of unemployment experienced by many individuals,” Pianalto said today in Toledo, Ohio. “The most important reason for our high unemployment rates is that spending by consumers, businesses, and government still remains uninspiring. In other words, these higher rates of unemployment are predominantly cyclical in nature.”