Last night the news said that unemployment in the Charlotte area had dropped from 12% to 11.8%. Sadly, Daniel is not a part of contributing to the 0.2% drop. Maybe I am jaded but I don't know that such a tiny drop is cause for celebration.
I haven't written much about our unemployment in a recession experience. It is hard to know what to say. I have heard that if you are among the employed, you experience recession. If you are among the unemployed, it is depression. I suppose we are somewhere in the middle since I remain employed while Daniel is in his 5th month of unemployment (repression/decession maybe?).
Early on, we had a friend tell Daniel to expect to not expect more than a 5% response rate during his job hunt. At this point, we would be thankful for 5% worth of response. Daniel has only had 1 interview after applying to more than 100 places. It's hard not to get your hopes up when opportunities are so few. It's tough when things don't work out. I just remind myself that there are plenty of others that need the job just as badly.
Daniel recently read somewhere that Civil Engineering is dead in the south east US. I don't know if that is true or not, but based on the last 5 months, we can attest that things aren't looking so hot.
So how do I feel about unemployment? Mostly I am thankful that I have a job. We have buckled down and tightened our finances even more. Ironically we paid off all of our credit debt (home improvements) right away and managed to save quite a bit since then. It's hard not to want to go out and spend that hard-earned safety net - a 2nd vehicle, furniture for our empty (yet finished) basement and a new non-bubble-screened TV are all pretty tempting...
The government programs in place to "help" the economy are of little consolation to us. We already bought our first home. Our "clunker" does not meet the requirements of cash for clunkers (the gas mileage is too good for a trade). Not that we would buy a new car anyway. And the government offer of cheap Cobra insurance for unemployed is only useful IF you don't have the option to sign on (expensively) under your spouse... So since Daniel can get his med insurance through my company for the "bargain" of ~$400/month, he doesn't get the option of having 65% of his Cobra premium payed by Uncle Sam like some of his friends have.
I am not writing this for pity, just to give some perspective through the eyes of someone living with unemployment in tough economic times. However, if you happen to know of any civil engineering jobs, feel free to give Daniel a shout.
I haven't written much about our unemployment in a recession experience. It is hard to know what to say. I have heard that if you are among the employed, you experience recession. If you are among the unemployed, it is depression. I suppose we are somewhere in the middle since I remain employed while Daniel is in his 5th month of unemployment (repression/decession maybe?).
Early on, we had a friend tell Daniel to expect to not expect more than a 5% response rate during his job hunt. At this point, we would be thankful for 5% worth of response. Daniel has only had 1 interview after applying to more than 100 places. It's hard not to get your hopes up when opportunities are so few. It's tough when things don't work out. I just remind myself that there are plenty of others that need the job just as badly.
Daniel recently read somewhere that Civil Engineering is dead in the south east US. I don't know if that is true or not, but based on the last 5 months, we can attest that things aren't looking so hot.
So how do I feel about unemployment? Mostly I am thankful that I have a job. We have buckled down and tightened our finances even more. Ironically we paid off all of our credit debt (home improvements) right away and managed to save quite a bit since then. It's hard not to want to go out and spend that hard-earned safety net - a 2nd vehicle, furniture for our empty (yet finished) basement and a new non-bubble-screened TV are all pretty tempting...
The government programs in place to "help" the economy are of little consolation to us. We already bought our first home. Our "clunker" does not meet the requirements of cash for clunkers (the gas mileage is too good for a trade). Not that we would buy a new car anyway. And the government offer of cheap Cobra insurance for unemployed is only useful IF you don't have the option to sign on (expensively) under your spouse... So since Daniel can get his med insurance through my company for the "bargain" of ~$400/month, he doesn't get the option of having 65% of his Cobra premium payed by Uncle Sam like some of his friends have.
I am not writing this for pity, just to give some perspective through the eyes of someone living with unemployment in tough economic times. However, if you happen to know of any civil engineering jobs, feel free to give Daniel a shout.
