Wednesday, April 21, 2010

No Job For Years and Still Looking

From CNN Money.com:

John Miller wasn't too nervous when he lost his job in the mortgage industry in June 2008.

The worst of the financial crisis was still months away. While the subprime mortgage industry had already imploded, there was still a debate at the time whether a recession had started. Job losses were steady but not dramatic.

Miller lost his job when Deutsche Bank shut down a unit making government-guaranteed FHA loans, but he had found work in the past when an employer had closed a unit. He thought that even if it took a few months to find another job, something would turn up.

Almost two years later, he's still looking.

"It's unfathomable to me," said Miller. "Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be coming up on two years without a job."

Miller is exhibit A of why this economic downturn feels so much worse to most than any other since the Great Depression. Long-term unemployment is at a level that dwarfs anything since the government started tracking the problem shortly after World War II.