More than one in six men between the prime working ages of 25 to 54 are unemployed — 10.4 million all together.

Their situations vary, The Wall Street Journal reports. Many aren't searching for work. Some had jobs that moved abroad or were eliminated by technology.

Some of these unemployed are dependent on government assistance, while others rely on working spouses.

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The trend has been developing for years, according to The Journal.

Only 6 percent of 25- to 54-year-old men were unemployed in the early 1970s. The amount rose to 13 percent by late 2007 and almost 20 percent at the peak of the recession in 2009.

So while part of the problem is the U.S. economy's tepid rebound from the worst recession since the 1930s, part of it also stems from technological change and globalization, The Journal notes.

In a country that puts a strong emphasis on the work life, unemployment represents a difficult status for men in their peak working years.

"Our culture is one that venerates work, that views work as good for its own sake," David Autor, professor of economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, tells The Journal.

Meanwhile, the 175,000 January private-sector job gain reported by ADP Wednesday gave some economists reassurance about the employment market after the government reported a payroll increase of only 74,000 for the entire economy in December.

"ADP offset some of the concern from the weak December payrolls report and showed that the labor market is pretty much where it was most of last year," said Omair Sharif, senior U.S. economist at RBS Americas, tells Reuters.

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