70k Unemployed in NC lose federal benefits July 1

[nhboy]

Link to original article.

" Paul Moore is one of tens of thousands of jobless North Carolinians whose unemployment benefits will be terminated at the end of this month.

Advocacy groups call it “the unemployment cliff” – and Moore, 53, a divorced dad who was laid off from his job as a lawn care worker in November, fears he’s headed for a long, hard fall when his weekly benefits end. He receives $302 in benefits each week, $75 of which is earmarked for child support.

He’s particularly worried about losing his home if he falls behind on his mortgage payments, which he fears is inevitable if he fails to find a job soon.

“I think there are going to be a lot of people on the street as of July 1,” Moore said. “There are just not enough jobs out here yet.”

About 70,000 people will stop receiving federal extended unemployment benefits June 30 – the result of a state law that goes into effect July 1. (See the state and Triangle jobless rates, and the rates for all 100 counties, in the interactive graphics at the bottom of this story.)

The law, one of the first passed by the legislature this year, reduces the maximum state benefits a laid-off worker can receive by roughly one-third. It also reduces the maximum weeks of benefits funded by the state.

Those changes triggered the end of the federal extended benefits because federal law requires states to maintain current benefit levels. Extended benefits, which kicked in after the unemployed had exhausted their 26 weeks of state-funded benefits, have provided as many as 47 additional weeks of benefits for those unable to find a job.

“We’re the only state that is doing this,” said Bill Rowe, director of advocacy for the N.C. Justice Center, a group that champions issues on behalf of the poor. “People will have less money to pay their rent or mortgage payment or utility bills and all the other necessities their families need. They’ll have less money or, in some cases, no money.” "

 

[MMDad]

A 53 year old lawn care worker who can't find work in the beginning of summer? Sounds like he should have gotten an education.

Also sounds like Obama should have gotten out of the way of a real recovery so we might actually have jobs available. There's no reason for him to have dragged out the pain for so long other than his own arrogant incompetence.

 

[General Lee]

The unemployed need to take any job to make ends meet instead of sitting around waiting for something in their field. You can't tell me ALL these people can't find work?? BS. They could find something if they really wanted to.

Take the benefits away and MAKE them find work. Lazy asses.

 

[tommyjo]

Also sounds like Obama should have gotten out of the way of a real recovery so we might actually have jobs available. There's no reason for him to have dragged out the pain for so long other than his own arrogant incompetence.

The President "dragged out the pain"??? You couldn't have expressed a more uneducated opinion. Damn...that was a really stupid comment.

There are many well done books and articles that discuss the historical aftermaths of credit crises. Go read some. Thank God our Federal Reserve Chairman did...he's the only one who actually attacked the problem.

The President was inept with his much too small stimulus and pathetic follow thru, but your precious Republicans are far, far worse. They want the economy to tank for their own political gain. They refuse, yes refuse, to do anything to boost demand.

 

[abcxyz]

The President was inept

Yep.......and still is!

 

[MMDad]

They refuse, yes refuse, to do anything to boost demand.

That's because the government cannot create demand - they can only change the amount that they stifle demand.

The "stimulus" proved that. Billions and billions wasted on worthless crap. The "shovel ready" jobs did not exist. Even though the work didn't appear, for some strange reason the money was still spent.

Get the government to stop stifling the economy and we might actually have a recovery. Or you and your kind can continue pushing the rope.

 

[Rommey]

Let's say that this guy was at the end of the 99-week benefit period and was still in the same situation. What would this guy do then? Complain about the Federal benefits running out?

The reality is that the safety nets are only so big and eventually people will fall off.

 

[CrashTest]

A 53 year old lawn care worker who can't find work in the beginning of summer? Sounds like he should have gotten an education.

Obama has outsourced lawn care jobs to people coming from Mexico. Not enough lawn care jobs in the US to employ the entire world. Thank you President Obama.

 

[cwo_ghwebb]

The President "dragged out the pain"??? You couldn't have expressed a more uneducated opinion. Damn...that was a really stupid comment.

There are many well done books and articles that discuss the historical aftermaths of credit crises. Go read some. Thank God our Federal Reserve Chairman did...he's the only one who actually attacked the problem.

The President was inept with his much too small stimulus and pathetic follow thru, but your precious Republicans are far, far worse. They want the economy to tank for their own political gain. They refuse, yes refuse, to do anything to boost demand.

One can't fix stupid.

 

[Larry Gude]

Sounds like he should have gotten an education. .

What a snide, miserable thing to say.

These people are your fellow countrymen and we NEED people willing to work with their hands, pick up trash, build things, clean things and yes, cut the freaking grass.

You really want a world where everyone has an 'education' and sits around their cubicle looking down and sneering at the unwashed, unemployed masses and all our manual labor jobs get done by immigrants because they'll do it cheaper than locals?

Oh, wait...

 

[Larry Gude]

The unemployed need to take any job to make ends meet instead of sitting around waiting for something in their field. You can't tell me ALL these people can't find work?? BS. They could find something if they really wanted to.

Take the benefits away and MAKE them find work. Lazy asses.

Yeah? And how is your 401K?

If we pull all benefits and make 'lazy asses' go find work, we also need to 'do' certain other things like not doing TARP, not doing the Stimulus, not doing quantitative easing, not bailing out GM or investors, not expanding entitlements and all around not running an economy that protects the investments of those 'lazy asses' who sit around and speculate about what the gummint is going to do to protect their portfolios which, in turn, erodes and destroys the hard earned dollars of the working man and woman who aren't smart or educated enough to do anything but work their entire lives. Those lazy bastards.

Does anyone get how our Too Big To Fail economy has devastated working people? How it has crushed what little they have? How it makes it impossible for them to do much more than be renters their entire lives?

Exceptional people will always find a way and rise above. They're not the problem. The problem is what to do with the great majority of us who are not exceptional but can work hard, can contribute, can do good for the community at large but who face the insurmountable challenge of over coming the devastation to blue collar pay that bail outs and high energy and losing wars and expanding entitlements places on them every day from the pump to the grocery store to the mall to their checkbook.

 

[Pushrod]

I wonder if the unemployment number will drop by 70k July first as these people drop off the unemployment radar and the present administration can tout it as another growth spurt in the economy?

 

[Pushrod]

Yeah? And how is your 401K?


Exceptional people will always find a way and rise above. They're not the problem. The problem is what to do with the great majority of us who are not exceptional but can work hard, can contribute, can do good for the community at large but who face the insurmountable challenge of over coming the devastation to blue collar pay that bail outs and high energy and losing wars and expanding entitlements places on them every day from the pump to the grocery store to the mall to their checkbook.

I think this article was about people who are not out there working hard at blue collar jobs, but are sitting at home collecting unemployment. General Lee was stating that they need to find whatever job they can get before those benefits wash out.

 

[MarieB]

I think this article was about people who are not out there working hard at blue collar jobs, but are sitting at home collecting unemployment. General Lee was stating that they need to find whatever job they can get before those benefits wash out.

Which is easy enough to say

 

[Larry Gude]

I think this article was about people who are not out there working hard at blue collar jobs, but are sitting at home collecting unemployment. General Lee was stating that they need to find whatever job they can get before those benefits wash out.

Look, the entire premise of this 99 weeks or whatever it is, of benefits is INSANE. However, it is no more insane than TARP and the Stimulus and the bail outs etc and a working person is no more likely to turn down what is being offered them in time of stress than investors and corporations and unions and banks and insurers were when they were under duress. The problem is in the mindset of offering all that, call it what it is, transfer of wealth, welfare, in the first place.

I can just see someone whose portfolio has rebounded nicely thanks to Obama and Bernanke and Timmy, feeling good again and sneering at those lazy bums with arthritis and aching joints and tired souls who've worked hard up to age 50 and now really have no idea how anything works anymore because their ass sure didn't get bailed out.

The thing that is so effed up about all this is that you DON'T bail out the people who are educated, who are smart enough to figure things out under stress. You bail out the working man, the customer, the person who has a pretty simple life to live. Let them be in decent shape and the smart guys will figure out how to profit, properly so, off of them. You don't just freaking take it. Like we've done.

 

[General Lee]

I think this article was about people who are not out there working hard at blue collar jobs, but are sitting at home collecting unemployment. General Lee was stating that they need to find whatever job they can get before those benefits wash out.

Yes, I was referring to those who are sitting around sucking the gov't teet of unemployment benefits, getting extension after extension.

Look, I have no issue with someone getting unemployment for an unexpected job loss, health issue etc. But don't sit around for 2 years collecting a check when you go out and do something to earn a honest living and be a contributing member to society.

 

[GURPS]

as a working you and your employer pay into the fund ....... but not enough to payout 99 weeks ...... this it just MORE Gov. Welfare

 

[MMDad]

What a snide, miserable thing to say.

These people are your fellow countrymen and we NEED people willing to work with their hands, pick up trash, build things, clean things and yes, cut the freaking grass.

You really want a world where everyone has an 'education' and sits around their cubicle looking down and sneering at the unwashed, unemployed masses and all our manual labor jobs get done by immigrants because they'll do it cheaper than locals?

Oh, wait...

If you can't get a job you can either sit around on the public dime and whine about it or you can do something.

Tell me, oh great and mighty wise one, what should someone who cannot find a job do if they have no marketable skills? Since getting an education is something you feel they shouldn't have to do, does society owe them a job?

 

[DipStick]

Look, the entire premise of this 99 weeks or whatever it is, of benefits is INSANE. However, it is no more insane than TARP and the Stimulus and the bail outs etc and a working person is no more likely to turn down what is being offered them in time of stress than investors and corporations and unions and banks and insurers were when they were under duress. The problem is in the mindset of offering all that, call it what it is, transfer of wealth, welfare, in the first place.

I can just see someone whose portfolio has rebounded nicely thanks to Obama and Bernanke and Timmy, feeling good again and sneering at those lazy bums with arthritis and aching joints and tired souls who've worked hard up to age 50 and now really have no idea how anything works anymore because their ass sure didn't get bailed out.

The thing that is so effed up about all this is that you DON'T bail out the people who are educated, who are smart enough to figure things out under stress. You bail out the working man, the customer, the person who has a pretty simple life to live. Let them be in decent shape and the smart guys will figure out how to profit, properly so, off of them. You don't just freaking take it. Like we've done.

The biggest flaw in your argument is that there are things we, as a society, can and do in fact do for the unemployed and for low income folks. If you are unemployed or you are genuinely poor, you can pretty much get a free education.

 

[Tilted]

I wonder if the unemployment number will drop by 70k July first as these people drop off the unemployment radar and the present administration can tout it as another growth spurt in the economy?

I won't predict whether the unemployed number will go up or down in the next BLS Employment Report. It went up by about 100K in the last report (i.e. for May), even though the employed number went up by about 300K, because a large number rejoined the labor force (i.e. such that they get counted in the headline unemployment number). The civilian labor force number went up by about 400K.

But I can say that the unemployed number won't decrease because of these people losing their unemployment benefits. That's not what determines whether someone is counted. In fact, the majority of people that are counted as unemployed, about 3 out of 4 of them, aren't receiving unemployment benefits. If those people that lose their unemployment benefits go on to not look for work (with 'look for work' being defined quite generously) for a month or so, then they will stop being counted as unemployed. But if we're talking about people that really need income, and really want work, that doesn't seem likely. After they lose unemployment benefits, they would seem more likely to be looking harder for work for a while (and, again, it doesn't take much to be considered as having looked for work). Of course, when we're talking about people that don't actually need or want work, they may stop 'looking' after losing unemployment benefits. Those would people that were just taking advantage of their ability to collect an income even though they didn't want work, the only reason they would have been 'looking' for work would have been to continue to qualify for benefits. Those that really need work would need it even more when they lose their benefits.

If the headline unemployment rate was only based on people collecting unemployment benefits, it would be quite low now - i.e., 2%-ish.