Extended periods of unemployment can inflict persistent damage on lives and livelihoods while also eroding the productive capacity of the economy. 6 And we know from the previous expansion that it can take many years to reverse the damage.
For research on the adverse consequences of permanent job loss, see Steven J. Davis and Till von Wachter (2011), “Recessions and the Costs of Job Loss,” in David H. Romer and Justin Wolfers, eds., Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (Washington: Brookings Institution Press, Fall), pp.