While many observers cheered the fact that the unemployment rate remained steady at 9.7 percent in February, taking it as a sign that job creation could be right around the corner, others were quick to point out there are still millions of Americans suffering through long-term unemployment who will have a difficult time getting back on their feet even when the economy recovers.
According to the U.S. Labor Department, a full 8.8 million Americans have been unemployed for at least three-and-a-half months. In fact, nearly 60 percent of the unemployed have been without a job for at least 15 weeks, an all time high.
"Whether you say the jobs market is improving or getting worse, there are people who will say you're crazy," Lakshman Achuthan, managing director of Economic Cycle Research Institute, told CNNMoney.com. "That's because there are two Americas, and they're both right."
Those with the least amount of time spent unemployed are finding it easier to find work than those who have suffered through long-term unemployment.
One reason could be the fact that many of those experiencing long-term unemployment are typically employed in sectors that have been hit extremely hard by the current recession. Two of the hardest hit areas of the economy have been manufacturing and construction. Typically, those areas of employment require less education and skill than other jobs, leaving many without the tools to transition into another field.
The finance sector has been battered by the recession as well, losing countless jobs in the past two years. Much like construction, the finance sector was over employed because of the real estate bubble. When it burst, both those sectors began to downsize, and most believe that those jobs will never return.
"Those areas that were over capacity will have no bounce back anytime soon," Doug Roberts, chief investment strategist for ChannelCapitalResearch.com, told CNNMoney.com.
Nor will the millions of manufacturing jobs, which, unlike construction and finance jobs, have not been lost due to the recession, but rather because of America’s failed trade policies.
"Ten years ago, we had 18 million or so people in manufacturing; now, it's a little over 10 million. So you have 8 million jobs gone and they're not coming back, ever." Achuthan, managing director of the Economic Cycle Research Institute, told CBS News.