Blake Farmer

After six months without a job, you're officially considered long-term unemployed.

The number of Americans in that boat is up more than 300,000 over the last year.

Among them is Brett Kling, an HR and technology analyst with a long resume and a master's degree in organizational psychology.

Actually –

Three minutes before I started recording in here, I got a message that I got another rejection.

So an automated rejection.

I'm sorry.

Yeah, it's all right.

You got to keep going.

Rejections, no's are kind of par for the course.

Kling stays motivated by going to as many mixers and meetups as possible.

In an age of AI, he says it feels like human connection is his only hope.

Anytime there's an open event, you know, where...

You can have some face time with people.

I try to do that.

He even tries to go in person to his career transition support group meetings through the Society of Human Resources Management.

It's led by facilitator Lauren Kiproff-Downer, who says the group represents a wide array of industries.

Just a few years ago, when unemployment was below 4%, recruiters were offering signing bonuses to lure the same people to a new role.

So why is long-term unemployment rising?

Labor economist Celeste Carruthers at the University of Tennessee says people just aren't moving around like they were.