There has long been evidence that unemployment has an influence on the risk of future unemployment and earnings of a worker, effects that may partially be attributable to both employers’ perceptions of workers and to workers’ loss of general and specific skills during a period of unemployment.12 Although it is not fully understood whether this phenomenon is more attributable to a stigma that employers attach to unemployed job-seekers or a decline in skills by the unemployed, many observers and analyses have shown that it is an important factor in the employability of workers. It is thought by many to be a contributing factor to today’s high long-term unemployment rate.