There were 698,000 discouraged workers (those not in the labor force who want a job yet are not actively looking) in March, a decrease of 57,000 from February. The number of long-term unemployed (those looking for work for 27 weeks or more) declined by 110,000 in March to 3.7 million. Though trending down, the number remains much higher than it was prerecession.

Long-Term Unemployed Workers and Discouraged Workers, monthly, thousands