After 12 months of continuous unemployment, the typical unemployed worker still searched for a job, but in a desultory fashion, without much hope. And, after two years of unemployment, the worker, accurately expecting to be at the end of every hiring queue, had lost hope and, for all practical purposes, left the labor market.
首先，大萧条时期的长期失业者急切而努力地寻找其他工作。但是，在找工作半年而未果后，他们变得灰心丧气、心烦意乱。失业一年后，典型的失业者仍会寻找新工作，但已不再十分上心，也不抱有多大希望。而在失业两年后，失业者会认为对于任何一个职位，自己都是最后才被考虑的人选，他会丧失现实希望，离开劳动力市场。