>So does this mean that the majority of the umemployed at any given
>time are long-term, structural unemployed?
Depends on what you mean. To be counted as unemployed you have to be actively searching for work. Many of the long-term structural unemployed don't qualify, so they're either coded as "discouraged" or "not in labor force." Here's the breakdown of the officially unemployed in July:
<http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t09.htm>
Total unemployed 100.0 Less than 5 weeks 34.4 5 to 14 weeks 30.3 15 weeks and over 35.3
15 to 26 weeks 14.8
27 weeks and over 20.4
The 27+ is unusually high right now, as is usually the case early in a recovery. The harder cases need tight labor markets to find work.
Doug