英语翻译Economists cite several reasons for the drop in long-ter

英语翻译
Economists cite several reasons for the drop in long-term unemployment.Most significant is the gradual healing of the broader labor market,which has seen the unemployment rate drop to 7.8% in December from a high of 10% in 2009.After initially benefiting mostly the more recently laid-off,that progress is now being felt among the longer-term jobless as well.
The gradual strengthening in the housing market could lead to more improvement.Many of the long-term unemployed are former construction workers who lost jobs when the housing bubble burst.Rising home building has yet to lead to a surge in construction employment,but many experts expect hirin
g to pick up in 2013.
Another possible factor behind the recent progress:the gradual reduction in emergency unemployment benefits available to laid-off workers.During the recession,Congress extended unemployment benefits to as long as 99 weeks in some states.Today,benefits last 73 weeks at most,and less time in many states.Research suggests that unemployment payments lead some recipients not to look as hard for jobs,and the loss of benefits may have pushed some job seekers to accept work they might otherwise have rejected,said Gary Burtless,an economist at the Brookings Institution.