August Unemployment Rate shows little change

This morning the Department of Labor released the August Unemployment Rate showing that the the past four months has remained relatively unchanged for those seeking work in America. This month's numbers show that 14.9 Million Americans are looking for new jobs and the unemployment rate (9.6 percent) has barely changed from last month.

When you consider that the unemployment rate has remained at 9.5 to 9.7 percent from May through August, the situation looks to be consistently disappointing for those hoping to land a new position. Or is it?

Diving deeper into the figures released by the D.O.L., it shows that the rate of long-term jobless (those looking for work for more than 27 weeks, or just over 6 months) declined by 323,000 to 6.2 Million. For those of us that live, eat, sleep and breathe in this industry, we know this change is minimal and that 6.2 Million is basically unchanged yet when the numbers do change, this is the one that will change the fastest.

As career coach in one of the toughest economy's America has seen ever, including the Great Depression, it's important the my clients know the facts from the myths of today's market. The fact is, it takes an average of 211 days to land a job in today's market. (CNN). To decrease your time on the market, and increase your job search effectiveness, focus your efforts on networking. 80% of jobs are landed through networking (ABC News) and the majority of those positions are never advertised.