Six people I know personally in Orlando are unemployed right now.

[ddeclue]

I was unemployed from 12/15/2008 to 4/12/2009. I will be starting my new job on Monday.

Four friends of mine that I know from Democratic politics and two that I know from previous jobs are all unemployed right now and they come from a wide variety of backgrounds and skill sets.

Unemployment here in Florida is just crazy these days - officially up to 9.4% in February from 8.6% in January and 7.6% in December. Unofficially it's probably about 3 to 4 points higher.

That's about 1 in 11 Floridians officially unemployed and 1 in 8 unofficially.

:(

Doug D.

[Riley18]

1. Good luck in your new job:)

[csziggy]

2. Yeah, one of my friends works in the Florida Department of Unemployment

They have been swamped - months behind on fulfilling requests. A few weeks ago she told me that they are hiring. But she's been working 80 hours or more a week for months and cannot keep up with her cases.

She's been working there for many years and has never seen it this bad for numbers of claims.

[emilyg]

3. Good luck. Nine people

in my small condo complex lost their jobs.