Norton Introduces Incentive-Based Bill to Encourage Businesses to Hire Long-Term Unemployed

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today introduced a bill that would help address the ongoing crisis of long-term unemployment. Norton's bill would give employers a $5,000 tax credit against their payroll tax liability for each new net person hired who has been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. Although the overall unemployment rate has dropped dramatically since the trough of the Great Recession, the long-term unemployment rate has remained stubbornly high. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of long-term unemployed in January 2016 was 2.1 million, which accounted for 26.9 percent of the total unemployed population. Norton said it is troubling that the number of long-term unemployed Americans has remained unchanged since June 2015.

“As our economy continues to improve after the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, long-term unemployed Americans are not sharing in the recovery,” Norton said. “All too often, long-term unemployment itself is held against these job seekers as they are passed over by employers, trapping otherwise highly-qualified, experienced candidates in a vicious cycle,” Norton said. “As our economy turns around, we must ensure that our long-term unemployed do not become permanently unemployed. My bill would provide a boost to the economy and to Americans who just need an opportunity to get back into the workforce.”