The Hidden Cost of Long-Term Unemployment in 2026

New data shows long-term unemployment is surging in the US even as job openings hit 7.6 million. Lucas and Luna unpack the structural mismatch — why workers over 27 weeks without a job are being left behind, how skills atrophy compounds the problem, and what it means for the Fed's inflation fight and the real economy. They drill into the numbers from the April JOLTS report and the latest jobless claims data, and explore why this 'hidden slack' matters more than the headline unemployment rate. Plus: how the rise in long-term unemployed could keep wage growth from overheating even as the labor market looks tight on the surface. #LongTermUnemployment #JOLTS #LaborMarket #FedPolicy #SkillsMismatch #StructuralUnemployment #JoblessClaims #WageGrowth #Inflation #USEconomy #Hysteresis #LaborForce #April2026Data #JobOpenings #UnemploymentRate #Economics #FexingoBusiness #BusinessPodcast Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo