Item saved to your backpack!

While the U.S. economy continues a tenuous recovery, the typical job-seeker is finding that it takes twice as long to land a position as it did in 2007, before the onset of the recent recession, according to a new analysis released by the Labor Department's Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

At the end of last year, job-seekers were unemployed for a median of just over 10 weeks before finding work, up from five weeks three years earlier. In 2010, 11 percent of unemployed workers who landed jobs spent more than a year looking for work, compared to less than 3 percent in 2007. Conversely, only 34 percent of the transitions from unemployment to employment last year were completed in fewer than five weeks, down from 49 percent in 2007. Nine percent of job-seekers had been unemployed for 99 weeks or longer at the end of 2010.

"The recent recession has had a profound effect on the length of successful job search," BLS economist Randy Ilg wrote of the findings.

The agency also noted that the unemployment duration rates it is reporting may be understated by as much as a few weeks, given that the monthly data behind the report come from a sampling of workers taken one week in the middle of each month. So for example, in the case of a job-seeker who had been unemployed for eight weeks when the survey polled its data in the middle of October, if he found a job before the next survey reference, he would have been counted as employed in November, with a total unemployment period of just eight weeks. But that would not count the inter-month period the person was without work leading up to the November survey reference.

The BLS noted that its unemployment data is often interpreted in news reports as a direct indicator of the length of time it takes job-seekers to land a position. But that correlation is not entirely accurate, as unemployment data only includes those actively looking for a position, meaning that discouraged job-seekers who abandon their search for work are not included in the numbers.

The new analysis found that unemployed workers stayed with the job hunt before giving up for far longer than they did prior to the recession. Unemployed workers spent 20 weeks looking for a job before abandoning the search and leaving the labor force in 2010, up from just eight and a half weeks in 2007.

The bleak employment market has caused many job-seekers to reassess their career strategies, with a large number returning to school to seek a degree or specialized career training. While studies continually support the correlation between a bachelor's degree and better-paying jobs, a recent analysis from the nonprofit Editorial Projects in Education Research Center (EPE) identified a litany of occupations with high salaries whose ranks are comprised primarily of workers who have completed some postsecondary instruction, but not attained a four-year degree. According to the EPE, the 12 top-earning professions in that category were:

1. First-line supervisors/managers of firefighting and prevention workers; Median income: $72,647

2. Air-traffic controllers and airfield operations specialists; Median income: $70,045

3. Radiation therapists; Median income: $67,432

4. Firefighters; Median income: $59,969

5. Police officers; Median income: $57,970

6. Electrical and electronics repairers, transportation equipment, and industrial and utility; Median income: $54,334

7. First-line enlisted military supervisors/managers; Median income: $53,972

8. Fire inspectors; Median income: $52,324

9. Funeral directors; Median income: $50,575

10. First-line supervisors/managers of correctional officers; Median income: $49,974

11. Postal service clerks; Median income: $49,974

12. Aircraft mechanics and service technicians; Median income: $49,974

For related news and other coverage from Schools.com, see:

• Degree decisions: How to choose a college major (infographic)
• Focus on skills, sub-baccalaureate programs can help meet postsecondary ed shortfall
• Communications equipment operator salary & career outlook
• Career comparison tool: Compare careers by salary and education (interactive tool)