How Can We Get the Long-Term Unemployed Back to Work?

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.