One Ugly Picture, a Few Sad Words

The long-term unemployment problem, courtesy of Business Insider:

In pictures --

and in words --

Veronica Orozco has been unemployed since June, 2007

Veronica Orozco

Nearly five years gao, Orozco was working as a full-time civil engineer in Chicago when she had to go to the emergency room to get her gallbladder removed.

When she returned to work two weeks later, her employers told her business was slow and that they didn't have any projects for her at the moment.

They told her to call back in two weeks and when she did, she received the same answer. During this time, she was paid a stipend, but not a full paycheck and was having a difficult time paying her bills. This happened for six months before Orozco decided to apply for unemployment.

Orozco, 30, has two young daughters and a husband who's currently in school. She makes most the income in her family and needed to get back to work as quick as possible, so she sent out applications for any positions in any field, including Walmart postings. She quickly realized getting another job would be a lot more difficult than she thought.

"The problem is that people don't want to hire people who are unemployed. And it's definitely more who you know, not what you know," Orozco said. "I have to hope that eventually I'll be able to find work again."

The family has had to cut out expenses such as cable or going to Whole Foods for their groceries. Orzoco is still actively applying for a job that will bring in a steady income and is planning on returning to school in the summer of 2012.

But stocks are going up, so that's all that matters, right?

Comments

[roger]

It's hard for reality to sink in,
but sink in it will,just a matter of time.
(George Soros predicts riots, police state and class war for America}Newsweek interview.
For those who believe that this crisis is just another
cycle and that recovery is on it's way, it's wake up time.
Reality makes no distinction between Greece or USA.

[Rocky]

The America we knew and loved is gone forever, welcome to the New World. I know, it stinks but we are stuck here and we did this to ourselves by allowing our corrupt elected officals to remain in office, many for years on end.
Our language, culture and American way of life is almost gone. For most of us it was great while it lasted.

[The Real Rocky]

Based on the increased traffic on the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge in recent months, the local economy appears to be getting significantly better. Of course, that does not do much for the former sales clerks at Borders' Books who may not have the skills required to work at Twitter or Yelp, which are only a few blocks away from the former bookstore's downtown locations.

A recent performance of the musical "Legally Blond" at a suburban arts center had a near sold out house. Anecdotal evidence, perhaps. But things appear to be looking up, at least in my little part of the world.

[William]

Rocky,
People cannot remain miserable forever. Eventually they forget what was keeping them up at night and they begin to shop again. I tell my students that the world is not ending (though the supposed Myan curse suggests otherwise), but that it is definitely changing. George Soros wants to own the Acropolis for his own private use and charge admission to everyone else. No wonder he's predicting social unrest. Persistent long term unemployment with our level of debt is a recipe for disaster for this generation and at least the next one. Time to make good friends and mend fences with your love ones.

[GoneWithTheWind]

Say it isn't so! She stopped shopping at Whole Foods. What will the poor yuppie do? Will she eat normal food like the rest of us? Please tell me she didn't have to give up her lattes at Starbucks. Surely her world hasn't collapsed that much...

[michael]

My deepest sympathies for not being able to shop at Whole Foods anymore!
I do hope she will still be able to raise her daughters healthy.

[Blurtman]

Take out student loans. That's the ticket!

[roger]

@William.
Soros predictions means nothing to me,but he
is part of the 1%,people are subjective to
the ideals and thinking of their class,the point
is, that reality is beginning to sink in at all
levels.Social unrest is spreading globally and
the US is not an island unto itself,matter of fact
our deficit is greater than that of Greece who does
not have the burden(folly) of policing the globe.
No its not the end of the world,just a tectonic
shift in who runs the global finances.

[Mightaswellliebackandenjoyit.blogspot.com]

I am very conflicted about this post. The earlier posted comments reflect my sense of irony (and I do so hope that Mr Panzer did intend this as ironic).

So many people are so lost to the dream that they are incapable of seeing that their desired lifestyles (whole foods and cable) are behind us. This post is a very real indictment of the people who will be most impacted by the problems ahead of us.

The lifestyles that everyone seems to insist upon are no longer available to the masses. A completely comfortable lifestyle can be easily achieved, yet it doesn't seem to be adequate for those who have seen been higher up on the consumption mountain.

A civil engineer going back to school? What the hell for? Does she think that more education, with a large tab attached, probably paid for with student loans is going to pull he out of this?

Sometimes words fail me.

[Mark]

Welcome to the death of the American Middle Class:

http://www.planbeconomics.com/2012/02/17/documentary-death-of-the-american-middle-class/

[banana messenger]

We (as a society) decided to save the wrong people....

When Debt is More Important Than People, The System Is Evil (February 18, 2012)

In the normal course of affairs in corrupt kleptocracies, various Elites siphon off most of the swag and the commoners get just enough shreds to buy their complicity. In other words, it may well be that the entire populace of Greece benefitted handsomely from the massive State borrowing, but it also may well be that the private-sector Greeks received little of the swag. In this case, they don't "deserve" to be forced into debt-serfdom by their Euroland overlords.

The potential for loss and actually bearing the consequences from irresponsible extensions of credit was unacceptable to the banking cartel, so they rewrote the laws. Now student loans in America cannot be discharged in bankruptcy court; they are permanent and must be carried and serviced until death. This is the acme of debt-serfdom.

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogfeb12/debt-empire-evil2-12.html

[Renodino]

The only way to get a job is to have a job already. Ninety percent of the LT unemployed will never work again. Social Security Disability is the only recourse of most of them.

[Island runner]

Going back to school, just because you can't find a job, is a very poor financial move. You will rack up debt, and it does not make you "more employable".
Suggest that she, and her student husband, apply for jobs outside of her immediate area. These days, you have to go where the jobs are. As a civil engineer, she can find employment- maybe not at here first choice of locale, but it will put food on the table.
P.S. I have never had cable, and do not miss it.Cable is not a necessity, it is a luxury.

[Jesse Lyles]

For the people that don't see the shape our country in. Get ready for Hell !

[D]

Why do people always go back to school thinking that when they finish, there will pop up automatically a job just for them? The reality is that most jobs in the U.S. do not require a bachelors degree or higher. It really mystifies me when after all the media hype on one side that is for going back, and the experts who are against going back, that people don't use their supposedly good brains to figure out that they are being conned. After accruing more debt and another degree, they still end up with no job.