The article analyses coping behavior of young people in the situation of unemployment caused by the economic crisis. 252 people (aged from 23 to 36 years) were interviewed, the respondents were divided into 2 groups: group 1 -126 people unemployed for 3-4 months; group 2 -126 people unemployed for more than 1 year. The study involved 120 men and 132 women from Vladikavkaz, Republic of North Ossetia-Alania. It has been revealed that among young people with more than 1 year of unemployment experience, a negative emotional background dominates. The higher the length of unemployment, the higher the propensity for chaotic job search among the respondents is. Among young people with a low experience of unemployment, responsibility for their families is not yet prevailing, and they are more relaxed about their life situation and the search for a way out. The analysis has determined that the ways the unemployed people with different experience of unemployment use to overcome economic stress differ significantly in terms of the parameters of a considered search, expansion of social ties, assistance from relatives, an indicator of mental stress and insecurity. In other words, unemployed people with different experience of unemployment organize their activity in a crisis situation on the labor market in completely different ways.