By Dan Horn

Ray Ross opens the spiral notebook and grimaces as he reads the numbers on the page.

One side shows his family’s income for the month, the other lists the bills. It’s a simple equation, neatly written by his wife in columns labeled “due,” “paid” and “balance.”

Ray can tell right away the numbers don’t add up.

“Here’s what we have,” says his wife, Judi, pointing at the page from across the kitchen table. “And here’s what we owe.”

It’s early March, and the monthly ritual of calculating the family budget is more painful than ever. The reason is no mystery to Ray: He’s been out of work for four years. His unemployment benefits are long expired, and he and Judi have burned through their savings and 401(k)s.

Once a proud, confident breadwinner, Ray now routinely plants a “Yard Sale” sign in front of his Sharonville home so he can pay the bills. They’ve sold bikes, jewelry, even the guitars they got their sons for Christmas a decade ago.

His steady, working-class existence has given way to a constant struggle to hold on to what he has.

It’s a struggle he shares with 4.4 million Americans who have been without a job at least six months. These are the nation’s long-term unemployed. They often go unnoticed, falling out of the workforce and, eventually, out of the government’s unemployment counts.

Read More The long, lonely search for a job.