And almost half of that group – nearly 1 million individuals – had given up searching for employment altogether because they did not believe any jobs were available to them. The unemployed, the underemployed, the marginally attached, and the discouraged can speak powerfully to the slow pace of the recovery.
The economic data in this regard correspond to what I have seen firsthand since being at the Federal Reserve. I have traveled to once-robust cities in the Midwest and in other parts of the country. I have walked through foreclosed homes and have seen blighted neighborhoods.