The cost of job loss and the great recession

This paper analyzes four measures of the cost of job loss for 2001:1-2009:4. All measures reached a record or near-record high in 2009, with the rise being driven by record high unemployment duration and record low reemployment duration. In 2009:4, the real weekly cost of job loss was $352.57, or 41.74 percent of predisplacement earnings. Expected costs of job loss have nearly doubled since the beginning of the Great Recession. Evidence suggests that these costs do not peak until two to three years after the end of a recession. Macroeconomic implications are explored and policy recommendations are offered.