long-term unemployment

How many Americans have been out of work for more than a year? Around 4.4 million -- about the same as the population of Louisiana. And a disproportionate percentage of those long-term unemployed workers are 55 and older.

Recovering financially after long-term unemployment isn't easy, but it's fairly straightforward: Pay off debts, rebuild savings, and adjust to your new income. Recovering emotionally is far more complicated -- it means retraining your brain and consciously shifting your perspective.

Amid some promising signs -- which are turning the heads of even some bears -- structural unemployment continues to be painful as the ranks of the long-term jobless keep swelling. This is a distinction that should be far more central to government policy than it currently is.

If 2010 was the year of joblessness, 2011 may become the year that that joblessness became intractable. Recently released Department of Labor stats paint a grim picture for the long-term unemployed. In a nutshell: Those out of work for five weeks have a monthly re-employment rate of 31%. For those...

If stocks are rising, that should mean the economy is improving. Yet even though the S&P 500 has soared 80% from its March 2009 lows, 70% of Americans don't believe the recession is over. Which side has a firmer grasp of reality?

Although it seems like toting up the numbers should be fairly straightforward, it turns out to be a complicated calculation, thanks to several inherent difficulties. For starters, unemployment is a snapshot of a moving target.