While the unemployment rate continues to fall currently settling at 6.1%, the long-term unemployment still remains high. Amongst the 3 million currently unemployed in the U.S., only a third of them have held jobs in the past three years. Over 100,000 of those unemployed have been on the job hunt for the past five years with no avail. Research suggests that the longer an individual is unemployed, the harder it is to get a job.
See "Long-term Unemployment Still At Record Levels", Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, September 9, 2014