Figure 2 shows the average length of unemployment from 1980 to 2013. The average
unemployment duration rose between the mid- 1980s and the mid- 2000s, but this is largely
attributed to changing demographics in the labor force – specifically, surges in female labor force
participation and the aging of the U.S. population. Aaronson, Mazumder, and Schechter (2010) point
out that these demographic factors only partially account for the dramatic increases since the Great
Recession.1 They focus on weak labor demand and, to a smaller extent, extensions in
unemployment insurance benefits as possible explanations for the rise in unemployment durations.