Long-term unemployment measure extended to five years

The federal agency that tracks unemployment is changing its methods in an effort to more accurately gauge the severity of the nation's jobless woes.

Citing "an unprecedented rise" in long-term unemployment, the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) announced it is changing its upper-limit for tracking long-term unemployment from two years to five.

Beginning next month, BLS will send out modified forms that will allow people surveyed to mark if they have been without jobs for "260 weeks or over." Previously, the form had only asked if jobless stints had lasted "99 weeks or over." 

Increasing the reportable limit will allow the government to better understand the true nature of the unemployment situation and how long people are remaining out of work, officials said. Given the "historically large" amount of people currently unemployed beyond the two-year reporting limit, current BLS measures of unemployment might underestimate the problem, the bureau said.

Despite some indications an economic recovery is under way, unemployment in America has yet to show signs of improvement. The unemployment rate has lingered above 9.5 percent for the last 16 months, and the most recent report, released Dec. 3, showed a slight increase, from 9.6 percent to 9.8 percent.

According to the BLS, almost 10 percent of the country's 15 million unemployed have been looking for work for more than two years.

The new upper limit will be phased into questionnaires during the first four months of 2011.