Prolonged aid to unemployed is running out

[IDemo]

1.5 million could lose benefits by end of year, according to group's research

By ERIK ECKHOLM
updated 37 minutes ago

Over the coming months, as many as 1.5 million jobless Americans will exhaust their unemployment insurance benefits, ending what for some has been a last bulwark against foreclosures and destitution.

Because of emergency extensions already enacted by Congress, laid-off workers in nearly half the states can collect benefits for up to 79 weeks, the longest period since the unemployment insurance program was created in the 1930s. But unemployment in this recession has proved to be especially tenacious, and a wave of job-seekers is using up even this prolonged aid.

Tens of thousands of workers have already used up their benefits, and the numbers are expected to soar in the months to come, reaching half a million by the end of September and 1.5 million by the end of the year, according to new projections by the National Employment Law Project, a private research group.

Unemployment insurance is now a lifeline for nine million Americans, with payments averaging just over $300 per week, varying by state and work history. While many recipients find new jobs before exhausting their benefits, large numbers in the current recession have been unable to find work for a year or more.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/32254520/ns/us_news-the_new_york_times/

[Oregone]

1. Thats ok. Itll make the unemployment numbers go down.

Then everyone can pretend the recovery is real.

[Vincardog]

2. I haven't been able to find work for 8 years

[vadawg]

3. dang 8 years, where in the 7 depths of hell do you live

and can you move away...

[Vincardog]

4. I lived in Texas for most of them I moved to Iowa last fall. Still no jobs in sight

[vadawg]

5. what do you do when you did work, just interested if you do a job no longer needed

like your a betamax tape designer or the rubix cube colour sticker sticker oner.

[Subdivisions]

9. Mr. Reel-to-Reel 8-track Solid StateTV Transistor CB Radio Record Player Repair Man...

this Bud's for you...

[Vincardog]

12. I did a job no longer needed: Computer Programmer

[Yupster]

11. Out here in West Texas we've been screaming for any type of worker

for the last five years.

The oil fields soaked up all the workers, so every business in town had a help wanted sign and we had the lowest unemployment rate in the nation. Wish you could have made it out to here. We needed you.

[madrchsod]

6. i noticed pomeroy is google street mapped.....

just one street that is...my mother and all her kin lived in a 25 mile radius of storm lake. spent many a summer when i was a kid out there. are the elms still standing in storm lake? i have`t been back there in 30yrs.

[Taitertots]

7. WTF 8 years

Is there something more to this?
Are you disabled and unable to do most jobs?

[Vincardog]

13. I am over 50 with a college degree and 20 years experience in IT

[Taitertots]

14. I'm not sure what to say

I'm half your age with half your education and half your work experience and I have a job in the worst state in America, in the worst city in the state.

You can't even get a job at McDonald's or Jack in the Box? Who supports you?

[cap]

15. tots, you don't understand the employment problems of folks over 40

most of IT is really geared to the 25-35 year old bracket. You don't see too many greybeards in the profession these days. Not like when we were young. There is no training in the new technologies for the old. Even if they take a course in the latest, that fact is discounted because it's believed that the older worker can not retrain. I remember going to retirement parties for folks who had served 20+ years in a corporation. I remember seeing older people coming to work using a cane. I remember people taking 1 month off because they had a heart attack, stroke or back surgery and returning to their job with no problems. I remember seeing a fair number of grey haired folks in the corporation. I remember older workers pushing back on the boss for being a dang fool and not being punished -- more than that, that everyone was glad they warded off a bunch of nonsense. I actually remember looking up to them and being a bit deferential to their wisdom.

You don't see this any more.

Wait till you are over 40 and start wondering why there are no jobs for you either. Or no respect either.

[Taitertots]

17. I guess I don't get it

I don't know that much about computers, but it seems like they have changed dramatically over the last 10 years. It would seem that all your knowledge has become out of date. You may need to go back to college or give up on working in IT.

[Vincardog]

16. Why the hell would I drive 40 miles to work a MCJob? I have paid my dues a few hundred times

Why is it I am supposed to keep doing it?

OH yeah more Profits for greedy parasitic financial executives.

[Taitertots]

18. Because you obviously can't get a better job

Who is supporting you?

[Vincardog]

23. I can't afford to take a job that pays less than it takes to DO IT.

[TwixVoy]

20. In other words you are too good for it

[Vincardog]

22. CAn you say "Over Qualified"? The hiring managers I have talked to can

[Subdivisions]

8. It's a jobless recovery.

:sarcasm:

[Just-plain-Kathy]

10. The shit is going to hit the fan soon. The unprecedented extension of unemployment was put in place

just long enough for our government to get away continuing their bailouts.

:tinfoilhat:

[swaroop]

19. Foreign students are allowed to work on udent visas from one year to 29 months

The U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia has ruled against the tech workers that have been fighting a federal decision to allow foreign students to work on a student visa from one year to 29 months.

The Programmers Guild and others fighting the student visa extension, approved during President Bush's administration and subsequently backed by President Obama, argued that the extension was a backdoor H-1B increase that has brought more competition to the labor market, hurting wages and job prospects of U.S. workers.

The Bush administration extended the visa in 2008 because of the high demand for H-1B visas at the time, and concern that students, unable to get a visa, would return.

The recession has changed that. Of the 85,000 visas available under the cap, about 20,000 remain. Last year, the entire cap was exhausted in just a few days.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9135952/Tech_workers_dealt_setback_in_H_1B_case

[hfojvt]

21. that is a long time to be unable to find a job

Are there no temp agencies? I am not sure I like the idea of another extension. Esepcially with this: "Unemployment insurance is now a lifeline for nine million Americans, with payments averaging just over $300 per week." My last paycheck was only $400 for two weeks.

[SammyWinstonJack]

24. Another 'jobless' recovery.

:woohoo: And in case this is needed... :sarcasm: