Almost 40% of unemployed Americans have been out of work for more than six and a half months

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers added 49,000 jobs to payrolls in January, recovering 22% of jobs lost in December. Total employment remained down by 9.9 million jobs — or around 6% — compared to February 2020. Meanwhile, the national unemployment rate dropped from 6.7% to 6.3% between December and January. A total of 10.1 million Americans were looking for work last month, compared to 10.7 million at the end of last year.