The Unemployment Conundrum

     You need money to pay a bill and you go to a bank.
The more money you have, the more likely it is you'll get the loan.

     Same with the unemployed. The longer you have been without a job, the more you need that job.
But the longer you have been unemployed, the less likely it is you will be hired.

     PEW has studied that problem and produced an interesting story, including this chart. It shows the labor participation rate continuing to go down even as the unemployment rate improves (except in Alabama, that is).