Posted: 14 Jul 2010 10:59 AM PDT

Cincinnati

Deborah Coleman lost her unemployment benefits in April, and now fears for millions of others if the Senate does not extend aid for the jobless. "It's too late for me now," she said, fighting back tears at the Freestore Foodbank in the low-income Over-the-Rhine district near downtown Cincinnati. "But it will be terrible for the people who'll lose their benefits if Congress does nothing."

For nearly two years, Coleman says she has filed an average of 30 job applications a day, but remains jobless.

"People keep telling me there are jobs out there, but I haven't been able to find them."

Coleman, 58, a former manager at a telecommunications firm, said the only jobs she found were over the Ohio state line in Kentucky, but she cannot reach them because her car has been repossessed and there is no bus service to those areas.

After her $300 a week benefits ran out, Freestore Foodbank brokered emergency 90-day support in June for rent. Once that runs out, her future is uncertain.

"I've lost everything and I don't know what will happen to me," she said.

The recession -- the worst U.S. downturn since the 1930s -- has left some 8 million people like Coleman out of work.

Unemployment has remained stubbornly high at around 9.5 percent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in June 6.8 million people or 45.5 percent of the total are long-term unemployed, or jobless for 27 weeks or more.

Before the recession began in late 2007, the unemployed received benefits, usually a few hundred dollars a week, for 26 weeks or around six months after losing their jobs.

Under the federal/state programs, which are administered by state governments and partly funded by taxes on business, only full-time workers are eligible for benefits. Within federal guidelines, benefits and eligibility vary from state to state.

As the downturn left more Americans out of work for longer periods, Congress voted to provide funding to extend benefits to as long as 99 weeks in some areas.

Some critics say this adds to the country's large fiscal deficit, and may even discourage job-seeking.

FOOD BANKS FEAR STRAIN

An attempt to pass another extension has become bogged down in partisan political bickering in the Senate. Relief agencies fear that failure to extend benefits will strain their resources and may worsen the U.S. housing crisis.

"This will put a great deal of stress and strain on our organization, which has already been working hard," said Vicki Escarra, chief executive of Feeding America, which has a network of more than 200 food banks. In the year ended June 30, Feeding America distributed 3 billion pounds (1.36 billion kg) of food, a 50 percent increase over the past two years.

The benefits debate has pitted the majority of Democrats against most Republicans and some conservative Democrats.

When the House of Representatives passed a $34 billion benefit extension on July 1, 11 fiscally conservative Democrats voted against it. The Senate may take up the issue again in mid-July, but Republicans like Senator Tom Coburn have argued any extension must be paid for with cuts elsewhere.

"Even then he (Coburn) is not sure if that's a good idea," said John Hart, a spokesman for the Oklahoma senator. "The longer the unemployed have benefits, the less incentive there is to find a job."

Most economists argue that cutting benefits could slow recovery, describing benefits as direct economic stimulus because almost every penny of it gets spent. In a June 28 client note, Goldman Sachs said if all additional U.S. stimulus spending expires, it could slow the economy up to 1.5 percentage points from the fourth quarter 2010 to the second quarter of 2011.

The note added that extending unemployment benefits and a $400 tax credit would "substantially mitigate" that impact.

3 MILLION CUT OFF IN TWO MONTHS

During the Senate impasse, from the week ended June 5 to the week ended July 10, more than 2.1 million Americans lost their benefits. Another million will join them by July 31.

In Ohio alone, where unemployment stood at 10.7 percent in May, more than 83,000 people lost their benefits in June.

Sister Barbara Busch, executive director of non-profit housing group Working in Neighborhoods in Cincinnati, 65 percent of the people who come seeking help with their mortgages are unemployed or underemployed.

"I fear once the benefits run out, I suspect we'll see a new wave of foreclosures," she said. "I just hope I'm wrong."

Ohio is a bellwether U.S. state in elections. The state's Democratic attorney general Richard Cordray said blocking extending jobless benefits was politically motivated ahead of the midterm elections in November.

"If people lose their benefits they will blame the congressional majority and the administration," he said. "As unappetizing as it is, that would appear to be the strategy."

Senator Coburn's spokesman Hart said suggestions the Republicans were playing partisan politics were "ludicrous."

"The Democrats say that because they want to avoid making the hard decisions," he said.

Alonzo Allen, 55, a former aid agency worker in Cincinnati whose benefits will run out in September, spends two days a week volunteering at the food bank in Over-the-Rhine and the other three looking for work. He said he worries about the one-bedroom apartment he rents and how he will feed his dog Ginger, who is the "only family I have."

"If the benefits stop, I'll be out on the street and I'll lose all my furniture," he said. "That's going to be tough."

Search on to replace Weichsel

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 12:53 PM PDT

SOUTHINGTON - The search is on for a new town manager to replace John Weichsel. A job posting on the town's website notes there has only been one manager since 1966. The requirements call for a bachelor's degree with preference for an advanced degree and a minimum of five years of experience. No salary is listed for the position but Weichsel makes about $117,000.

Applications are being handled by attorney Louis Martocchio of Southington and Town Council Chairman Edward Pocock III. Council members have said the search will be nationwide.

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IRS announces new job search tools

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 01:44 AM PDT

The Internal Revenue Service has announced a new job search tool available on YouTube to help job seekers learn about work opportunities at the IRS.

As many recent high school and college graduates seek employment, the IRS's new YouTube playlist, Working at the IRS ( http://www.youtube.com/IRSVideos#g/c/C229B1637C71A518 ), provides information about various career paths available throughout the nation's tax administration agency.

The playlist features "Day in the Life" videos in which IRS employees discuss their jobs, the diversity of the IRS workforce and the culture of the agency.

The IRS has more than 100,000 full-time and seasonal employees and hires new employees throughout the year for positions including revenue agents, revenue officers, criminal investigation special agents, financial analysts and economists.

Employment opportunities also continue to be available on Careerbuilder.com. Among the top five categories as of Tuesday:

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Job Search Tips for Middle Aged Workers

Posted: 14 Jul 2010 09:16 AM PDT

While many of the news outlets have moved on from reporting about a down economy, the daily struggle for good work continues. This is certainly true for unemployed baby boomers who continue to find themselves on the outside looking in.

In an effort to help boomers who are continuing their job search, we've come up with a few quick tips to keep in mind when looking for new career opportunities ...

1. Turn Failure into Success

We've all experienced the heartbreak of failure and the embarrassment of mistakes. But it's how you bounce back from those moments of frustration and disappointment that will ultimately define you.

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Learn how to turn your failures into success with this great article from Susan Baroncini-Moe.

2. Start at the End and Work Backwards

Would you jump into a taxi without having a final destination in mind? In the same manner:

You cannot develop an executive resume without knowing what keywords and relevant content to include.
You cannot determine which specialty recruiters to contact without knowing your target industry and job function.
You cannot know which networking events to attend if you haven't figured out the key industry players.

What I am saying? Start with the job target. Read more about this strategy here: When Job Hunting: Start at the End

3. Is It Time to Find Your Dream Job?

As ThirdAgers plan for retirement, many of us are looking for more than a condo on a golf course.

The new generation of retirees may look forward to leaving the daily rat race, but that doesn't mean they want to stop working. Many simply want the chance to trade in their jobs -- the ones they pursued for practical purposes, like paying the mortgage and putting the kids through college -- for a job that taps into their passion.

Read more in our exclusive, four-part article: Is It Time to Find Your Dream Job?

Other Ideas
Other ideas you may want to consider are working from home (see: 10 Great Work-at-Home Jobs) or, simply changing your mindset when you are working to keep yourself employed, motivated, and having fun.

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Job Search

Wednesday, July 14, 2010

“Job search for Americans will be difficult if unemployment benefits aren't extended” plus 3 more

“Job search for Americans will be difficult if unemployment benefits aren't extended” plus 3 more

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