Long-Term Jobless Find Work as Employers Shun Raises; Boon to Yellen

By Rich Miller, Steve Matthews and Michelle Jamrisko Jun 20, 2014 10:54 AM ET

Americans who have been hunting for employment for more than six months are finally catching a break.

Among them is Tracey Mutz, who landed a job this month as director of project management for 1st Money Center Inc. after being out of work since March 2013. “It was terrible,” said Mutz, 52. “I wasn’t getting any responses.”

Now, she’s “happy” with the position she found. The specialty financing company is located a mile from her home in Hurst, Texas, and has “a great office environment.”

Mutz isn’t alone in experiencing better times. Faced with a shrinking pool of available workers and incipient wage pressures, companies are starting to give the longer-term unemployed a second look. The number of Americans without a job for 27 weeks or more fell to 3.37 million in May from 4.35 million a year earlier, though some of that drop reflects people leaving the workforce.

Their improving prospects are good news for Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and her colleagues as they seek to bring down unemployment without fanning too much inflation. If employers opt to widen their applicant pool rather than raise pay, that will allow the Fed to keep short-term interest rates near zero for longer.

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http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-20/long-term-unemployeed-are-finally-catching-a-break.html