The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release the latest unemployment numbers on Friday. In anticipation of what could be discouraging news, we’re kicking off a weeklong series about unemployment-related issues. Today we focus on the long-term unemployed. What can be done to get them back in the job market? Our guest says one solution is offering incentives to employers to hire the long-term unemployed over those who already have jobs. Megan McArdle is the business and economics editor for The Atlantic. She wrote about this suggestion recently for the magazine, and tells us about this and some other possible solutions for the long-term unemployed.