NYT: Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/business/economy/03unemployed.html?_r=1&partner=EXCITE&ei=5043

The New Poor
Unemployed, and Likely to Stay That Way


Benjamin Norman for The New York Times

Tim Smyth, 51, a New York television producer, has been unable to find work since 2008, despite having two decades of experience.
By CATHERINE RAMPELL
Published: December 2, 2010

The longer people stay out of work, the more trouble they have finding new work.

That is a fact of life that much of Europe, with its underclass of permanently idle workers, knows all too well. But it is a lesson that the United States seems to be just learning.

This country has some of the highest levels of long-term unemployment — out of work longer than six months — it has ever recorded. Meanwhile, job growth has been, and looks to remain, disappointingly slow, indicating that those out of work for a while are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future. Even if the government report on Friday shows the expected improvement in hiring by business, it will not be enough to make a real dent in those totals.

So the legions of long-term unemployed will probably be idle for significantly longer than their counterparts in past recessions, reducing their chances of eventually finding a job even when the economy becomes more robust.

“I am so worried somebody will look at me and say, ‘Oh, he’s probably lost his edge,’ ” said Tim Smyth, 51, a New York television producer who has been unable to find work since 2008, despite having two decades of experience at places like Nickelodeon and the Food Network. “I mean, I know it’s not true, but I’m afraid I might say the same thing if I were interviewing someone I didn’t know very well who’s been out of work this long.”

Mr. Smyth’s anxieties are not unfounded. New data from the Labor Department, provided to The New York Times, shows that people out of work fewer than five weeks are more than three times as likely to find a job in the coming month than people who have been out of work for over a year, with a re-employment rate of 30.7 percent versus 8.7 percent, respectively.

Likewise, previous economic studies, many based on Europe’s job market struggles, have shown that people who become disconnected from the work force have more trouble getting hired, probably because of some combination of stigma, discouragement and deterioration of their skills.

FULL 2 page story at link.

[aquart]

1. Then tax the banks to fund a WPA.

[FirstLight]

2. Losing one's edge

I know that feeling...I worry about it too sometimes.

Been trying to keep myself busy by doing a cookbook for the kid's class and some other postcards etc for friends, that way i can still stay involved with my graphics and publication programs... i should start an online portfolio too...

but the lag of time and the feeling of futility is thick, for sure...and living on next to nothing is wearing on my nerves too
how does one NOT feel bad when there is nothing left to do on a snowy afternoon (after all your online stuff is updated or sent out), but take a nap...? it felt luxurious in the first couple months, now it is just a rut of depression...

ug, not fun