Monday, June 14, 2010

Janesville's Long-Term Unemployed Fear for their Future

Some of the heartbreaking stories behind the statistics.
Link to Bureau of Labor Statistics

Link to June 13 Janesville Gazette article, "'Walk a mile in my shoes': Long-term unemployed ask 'What will happen to us?'"

Excerpt: Resa Haile knows the daily routine like she knows the fear in her heart.

Wake up in the morning.

Walk or take the bus to the library.

Hope that today brings more than promises of work.

The 49-year-old Janesville woman searches dozens of websites daily for employment. She applies online and in person. After more than a year, she hangs onto hope.

Resa never thought she would find herself pounding the pavement in middle age. She worked for a Janesville manufacturer for 12 years. Then just before Christmas 2006, her boss called her into his office with bad news.

Resa did not know it at the time, but her layoff preceded thousands of others in Janesville.

“I was a little ahead of the curve,” she says. “It was clear to me that manufacturing wasn’t going to be the way of the future.”



Hedberg Public Library

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