Help Not Wanted

Kai Ryssdal talks to Marketplace's Mitchell Hartman about the effect government subsidies for workers' wages in both the private and public sector.

Job growth is increasing, but at much slower rate than the growth of the working-age population. The severity of the recession may change the job market for many years to come.

The high youth unemployment means competition for summer temp jobs at resorts and amusement parks is fierce -- and it also leaves many teenagers without valuable work experience.

Stella Shaffer was a commercial radio news director in Iowa. Now she works at a Medicaid call center in Oregon. Like many professionals right now, she's overqualified for the job, but would still rather be working. Mitchell Hartman reports.

What jobs are on offer at this point in the so-called "recovery?" For our series on long-term unemployment -- "Help Not Wanted" -- reporter Mitchell Hartman dropped in on a job fair in suburban Chicago to find out.

When it comes to the job losses Americans are suffering through, it's been said that this has been very much a "middle-class" recession. That's because it's hit a broad number of industries. And many workers may never catch up to the career level they were before. Mitchell Hartman has the story of one worker who has had to start over.

The tough job market new college graduates are getting dumped into may significantly affect their chances for higher positions and salaries.

Mitchell Hartman talks to senior executive assistant Marsha Gooden as she goes on a search for new employment.

Getting back into the job market proves tough for workers in Chicago struggling against record-breaking trends in long-term unemployment.

Once you're out of work in this recession, you're almost out of luck. Long-term unemployment hasn't been this bad since the 1940s. Job applicants are having to look longer and beat out more competition. Employers, meanwhile, have found ways to get things done without having to hire. Mitchell Hartman reports.