Graph 3 Unemployment Rates* %  % Short-term (<13 weeks)  4  4  3  3  2  2 Medium-term (13–52 weeks)  1  1 Long-term (>52 weeks)  0 1993  1998  2003  2008  2013  0 2018  Seasonally adjusted by RBA Sources: ABS; RBA  7 of 12  ON LAGS  Once unemployment starts to decline, the stock–flow lag becomes more relevant.
Consider that, if the flow out of unemployment back into employment declines for a period, a stock of unemployed people can build up. Even if that flow returns to more normal levels in the subsequent recovery, it can take a long time for that stock to return to low levels. That is exactly what we saw after the 1990s recession.