That´s what one would surmise from reading the Congressional Budget Office Director´s Blog titled: The United states is Experiencing the Longest Stretch of High Unemployment since the Great Depression. There we learn:

What Factors Have Caused High Unemployment?

Weak demand for goods and services, as a result of the recession and its aftermath, which results in weak demand for workers;

Mismatches between would-be employers’ needs and the skills or location of the unemployed;

Incentives for people to stay in the labor force and continue searching for work that result from extensions of unemployment insurance benefits; and

The erosion of unemployed workers’ skills and the belief of some employers that people who have been unemployed for a long time would be low-quality workers (a phenomenon sometimes called stigma).

Slack demand for goods and services (that is, slack aggregate demand) is the primary reason for the persistently high levels of unemployment and long-term unemployment observed today, in CBO’s judgment. However, when aggregate demand ultimately picks up, as it eventually will, so-called structural factors—specifically, employer-employee mismatches, the erosion of skills, and stigma—may continue to keep unemployment and long-term unemployment higher than normal.

I liked the “as it eventually will”! Isn´t there a policy – Monetary Policy – that could give a “helping hand”? Apparently the CBO is “ignorant” of its existence.

And continues:

What Policies Would Increase Demand for Workers?

Reducing the marginal cost to businesses of adding employees; and

Targeting people most likely to spend the additional income (generally, people with lower income).

What Other Policies Could Reduce Unemployment?

Improve workers’ skills through training programs (perhaps targeted at specific vocations, geographic areas, or age groups);

through training programs (perhaps targeted at specific vocations, geographic areas, or age groups); Modify the unemployment insurance program to encourage unemployed people to return to work quickly, keep the unemployed connected to the workplace, or forestall job losses; or

to encourage unemployed people to return to work quickly, keep the unemployed connected to the workplace, or forestall job losses; or Facilitate transitions to work through job-search and housing mobility assistance programs.

The CBO had three chances to mention Monetary Policy, once as a “cause” of the recession (and high unemployment) and twice as a possible “cure” for the problem…but failed to do so!