According to Labor Dept., in 2010 on a national level, a little over 25% of the unemployed had been out of job for over 52 weeks.  In New Jersey, Georgia, Michigan, South Carolina, North Carolina, Illinois and Florida, more than a third of unemployed residents had been out of work for at least a year.  New Jersey was the worst among the worst bunch: 37.1% of the jobless had been out of work for at least a year.

WSJ also has a nice interactive chart of long-term jobless rate by each state (link).  You will notice, even in Texas, a state with one of the strongest economies, over 20% of the unemployed had been out of work for a year.

Here below is a chart from CalculatedRisk that tracks the long-term unemployment (for more than 26 weeks, or half a year) since 1960s.  I don't need to say a thing – you immediately see how serious the problem is. 

We are heading into another 70s – the only difference is we have yet to see high inflation – just not yet.