Surge in layoffs leads to rush on jobless benefits (where she had worked for 29 years)

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/index.php?u_page=2798&u_sid=10546906

BY ERIN GRACE
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

The first punch to the gut came at a quarter to five on a Friday.

Sheree Flores, 51, was wrapping up another week on the phone answering insurance questions at the Omaha office where she had worked for 29 years.

"I'm sorry," a tearful supervisor said after pulling Flores into an office. "They eliminated your position."

Then came the second hit: She got two weeks' severance.


Newly unemployed Sheree Flores, 51, visits the Workforce Development office in Omaha, searching for places to apply for work. Before she even began her job search, she started the application process for unemployment benefits. "It's going to be OK," she tells herself.


Reeling and unable to sleep or eat during that holiday weekend, Flores got on the phone the first thing Tuesday. If there was no job, and soon to be no paycheck, she had to rely on the government's safety net for the newly unemployed.

Unemployment insurance, a program launched in the aftermath of the Great Depression to keep the jobless and their communities afloat, has become an increasingly important resource as the number of out-of-work Nebraska and Iowa residents grows.

Employers pay into the fund through taxes and states manage it, with the federal government paying administrative costs.

This safety net is bulging as employers cull ranks to cope with the struggling economy.

Although regular reports of rising unemployment rates are one lagging measure of how bad things are — 7.2 percent nationally, 3.7 percent in Nebraska and 4.3 percent in Iowa — the up-to-date human toll can be seen in the swarms signing up for the weekly benefit.


FULL story at link.

[givemebackmycountry]

1. I'm praying every day...

That ain't going to be me.

I figure it's 60/40 right now on the plus side.
But like the Dow, the numbers change every day.