Nearly half of jobless residents in New Jersey have been out of work for more than six months, according to a new report, a level that ranks the state among the worst in the country.

The brief released today by New Jersey Policy Perspective notes the “long-term unemployment crisis is a national problem” but found every other state except Florida fared better than New Jersey. Also, while the share of long-term unemployed in New Jersey has fallen from its peak in 2010, the brief found that drop has not been as sharp as it has nationally.

“We’re in a much deeper pickle than most of the rest of the country,” said Gordon MacInnes, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal-leaning think tank. “The reason for that is pretty plain: we haven’t produced enough jobs for people who are unemployed over a long period of time to fill.”

The report, which relies on analysis of federal labor data by the Economic Policy Institute, shows that 46.3 percent of the state’s jobless residents were unemployed for more than six months as of March 2014, compared to the state’s peak of 51.4 percent in December 2010. Those values represent 12-month moving averages.

On the national level, the share of long-term unemployed peaked at nearly 44 percent of all jobless residents in November 2011 and has since dropped to roughly 37 percent.

Only Florida had a larger share of long-term unemployed among the states in March at 46.5 percent.

The brief notes that the long-term unemployment crisis is not talked about as much as the unemployment rate, which stood at 6.6 percent in New Jersey in August, the lowest level since the end of 2008, but says "it is an important problem — and one that is being largely ignored by policymakers."

The brief said the problem has been compounded by Congress not extending federal emergency unemployment benefits at the end of last year, leaving the long-term unemployed without help as they struggled to find a job.

John Fugazzie, a River Edge resident and founder of Neighbors-helping-Neighbors, a job search and networking support group, said the impact of long-term unemployment will have significant consequences.

“People are draining their retirement funds. They’re draining their pensions to live. What are these people going to do when they are truly retired and can’t work anymore?” he said. “This problem isn’t going to solve itself.”

Fugazzie also said the long-term unemployed who do find work are accepting jobs that paid far less than what they made before and often the jobs don’t last.

A national survey by Rutgers University released in September found that nearly half of unemployed workers who found jobs were paid less in their new position. Also, the study found, "one in five workers laid off during the past five years never found another job."

“It’s really a nationwide problem,” said the study’s co-author Carl Van Horn, a professor of public policy and director of the Heldrich Center at Rutgers University. He said the long-term unemployed face a number of issues getting back to work, including companies who prefer hiring individuals with no gaps in their employment history, a loss of contacts and the mental toll long-term unemployment takes.

Brian Murray, a spokesman for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development, noted several programs that have been initiated to help unemployed residents in New Jersey, including the Jobs4Jersey.com website, a job search engine called OnRamp and a networking program called Jersey Jobs Clubs, "where people looking for jobs can come to learn about the latest industry leads, the skills employers are looking for and how to get trained for emerging jobs."

Fugazzie said long-term unemployed residents looking for work need to be flexible and persistent. He said it’s not like 15 years ago where a job seeker would put out one application and wait to hear back.

“Now you can’t do that,” he said. “You really need to have simultaneous things going on.”

Erin O'Neill may be reached at eoneill@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @LedgerErin. Find NJ.com on Facebook.