Unemployed: Stranded on the Sidelines of a Jobs Crisis

[marmar]

from TomDispatch:




Unemployed
Stranded on the Sidelines of a Jobs Crisis

By Andy Kroll


(Research support for this story was provided by the Investigative Fund at the Nation Institute.)

Sometime in early June -- he's not exactly sure which day -- Rick Rembold joined history. That he doesn't remember comes as little surprise: Who wants their name etched into the record books for not having a job?

For Rembold, that day in June marked six months since he'd last pulled a steady paycheck, at which point his name joined the rapidly growing list of American workers deemed "long-term unemployed" by the Department of Labor. In the worst jobs crisis in generations, the ranks of Rembolds, stranded on the sidelines, have exploded by over 400% -- from 1.3 million in December 2007, when the recession began, to 6.8 million this June. The extraordinary growth of this jobless underclass is a harbinger of prolonged pain for the American economy.

This summer, I set out to explore just why long-term unemployment had risen to historic levels -- and stumbled across Rembold. A 56-year-old resident of Mishawaka, Indiana, he caught the unnerving mix of frustration, anger, and helplessness voiced by so many other unemployed workers I'd spoken to. "I lie awake at night with acid indigestion worrying about how I’m going to survive," he said in a brief bio kept by the National Employment Law Project, which is how I found him. I called him up, and we talked about his languishing career, as well as his childhood and family. But a few phone calls, I realized, weren't enough. In early August I hopped a plane to northern Indiana.

In job terms, my timing couldn't have been better. I arrived around lunchtime, and was driving through downtown South Bend, an unremarkable cluster of buildings awash in gray and brown and brick, when my cell phone rang. Rembold's breathless voice was on the other end. "Sorry I didn't pick up earlier, man, but a friend just called and tipped me off about a place up near the airport. I'm fillin' up my bike and headin' up there right now." I told him I'd meet him there, hung a sharp U-turn, and sped north. ...........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175304/tomgram%3A_andy_kroll%2C_the_face_of_an_american_lost_generation/ (story follows a brief intro)

[awoke_in_2003]

1. K&R...

the homeless are stranded, too- but we have been doing that for a long time.

[supernova]

2. This man is me.

I've been unemployed for two years. It's really bad out there. The only thing I can think to do is:

1) Go back to school
2) Open my own business.

But, I'm about done with the job hunting thing in the traditional sense.

[zehnkatzen]

3. k/r n/t