· Perhaps most importantly, repeated delays in removing the persistent impediments to growth and jobs means that some of them are becoming stubbornly embedded in the structure of the US economy – thus draining its dynamism and reducing its responsiveness. For example, with long-term joblessness at 5.4 million and the average duration of unemployment at 2.5 times the historical norm, workers are less able to regain productive employment quickly at anywhere near their previous wages and salaries.