Meet the Workers Behind the Unemployment Numbers
As daunting as the unemployment statistics are—345,000 Americans lost their jobs last month—they don’t do justice to the reality of the struggle that comes after the pink slip.
As part of our ongoing series about unemployment with public radio’s Marketplace, reporter Mitchell Hartman went to Oregon and South Carolina, two of the states hardest hit by the recession, to find unemployed workers willing to share their stories.
Two audio slideshows outline the states’ unemployment woes. Then, workers he met there talk about losing work and trying to hang on.
Have you or anyone you know had experiences like software marketer Diedre Murphy or welder Michael Dymond? Please share your unemployment experience with us.
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1 comments
Nelson Robison
June 5, 2009, 8:21 p.m.
As I hear these comments, I am shaken to the core of my belief in the governments ability to control the loss of jobs and stem the tide of unemployment.
Nowhere does this seem more evident then the states where the unemployment insurance fund has run out of money, through the mismanagement and outright fraud committed.
We must, take these matters into our own hands, the government is doing nothing to help the people. Even the Obama administration has slacked off on its promise to help those in most need. We are lacking in people, in government who have the intestinal fortitude to take on the corporate interests and their minions the lobbyists.
Come the next election cycle, I will be looking for people who have the moxie to take on the corporate interests. We have too or this country is doomed to destruction from the inside, not any outside terrorist group or enemy.
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