Long‐term Unemployment: A Local Labour Market Study

The results of a study of long‐term unemployment based on a survey in County Durham are presented. It was found that the long‐term unemployed do not lack motivation to get a job nor impose unreasonable restrictions on, for example, the kind of job they would take or the minimum acceptable pay. There was some evidence that the longer‐duration unemployed tended to be less able in terms of qualifications and were less advantaged in various ways, but the conclusion was that the long‐term unemployed are not unemployable. There is, however, a mismatch problem in that the skill/experience requirements of the current vacancies make them unsuitable for the long‐term unemployed. Experience in County Durham suggests that public sector job creation schemes might offer only limited possibilities for dealing with the problem.