Mixed Feelings about new Unemployment Extension

[ccgirl]

They are hiring RN's here: http://www.leememorial.org/jobs/index.asp

This is the hospital system in Lee County, Florida, if anyone is interested. Most of the people we know who still have jobs are employed in the medical field or by the hospital system. When I check employflorida.com, many of the jobs are in the medical field - RN's, physical therapists, occupational therapists, etc.

My hubby is in construction, and I read the same article as Virgderon about the manufacturing jobs not coming back. It said that most construction jobs were how uneducated men made a decent income, and they were correct. DH has a GED, so while he is on unemployment he's going to start vo-tech to become HVAC certified. He's been out of work since 11/09 so I hope his UC lasts long enough while he's in school. His FASFA (?) grant will cover his tuition, but we have to pay lab fees, books, tools, etc. He'll be 47 this month, and is not used to being out of work after working over 30 years.

Unemployment is NOT fun. In FL, they take your last 4 quarters worth of wages and pay 1/2 that - UNLESS restricted by law - and FL restricts the maximum to $275/week. Add a 'stimulus' payment of $25/week, for a whopping grand total of $300/wk. That doesn't even begin to cover our mortgage, escrow, vehicle payments, car insurance, gas, electric, phone, water, etc. So, instead of kicking back and drinking beer all day, as some people think all the unemployed do, my DH is out scrounging for work to make up the difference. Friday he painted; Saturday he helped someone move; yesterday he helped install a wall in an office; today he is re-wallpapering a living room. This is a good week - sometimes he goes weeks with only making a few dollars hauling old appliances to the recycle plant. I am cleaning out our house and selling stuff on Craigslist, clipping more coupons, sending off for more rebates, and looking for work myself.

We've thought about relocating, or even him relocating. We were in the Orlando area in June and noticed lots of construction. After a few days we noticed NO ONE is at those construction jobs. Since we know construction will not come back to SW Florida and there is fierce competition for jobs, DH will move on to another field, and I hope to get a job so I can help pay the bills while he's in school.

We have even considered buying a cheap travel trailer so that if the worst happens we'll at least have a roof over our heads.

Thanks for the link. I just wanted to wish you the best. Yes, FL is definitely hard. As I said in MA..it is very generous compared to the rest of the country. I have been laid off twice in the past 18 mths. The first time it took me 3 mths to get a job and the second time 4mths. I got out of the healthcare sector. It is not as good as people make it out to be. People don't have insurance in this economy. Medicaid/Medicare lowered their reimbursements etc. I know how fortunate I am to find work not once but twice. I remember how stressful UI was and I was lucky...I was one of those making more than I was working because I was no longer paying daycare. However, I also did not want to take advantage and stayed up until 2 am most mornings as I had to wait until the kids went to bed to apply for work. Although I am not making as much as I was accustomed to it is still very doable and the job much more secure.

Good luck to all of those actively seeking unemployment. I hope you all find work soon.

 

[j's m]

Gotta love the misinformation here:



Both the employer and the employee pay into NJ UE fund. Additionally, according to http://www.njsendems.com/release.asp?rid=3471




Not exactly. $600 is the most you can get. It's not the average, not by a long shot. You have to be making a pretty good salary to get that $600/week. Also, you're entitled to only 3 additional dependents, not EVERY kid. Even with that, your weekly benefit cannot be more than $600.

The reason the fund is bankrupt is because unemployment in NJ, like every other state, is running much higher than has been statistically budgeted for.
When you budget for an unemployment rate of 4 or 5%, and the real unemployment rate is close to 10%, of course the fund is giong to run short of funds.

Got to love the snarkiness here.

I've been an employer for 30 years in the state of New Jersey. I think I know something about unemployment. The employer pays the 26 weeks out of their "unemployment bank account," the rest is picked up by the taxpayers.

Yes, the employee pays into the unemployment fund, currently .3825%. The maximum an employee will contribute this year is $ 113.60. Not a bad return to be able to collect a max of $ 600 a week for 99 weeks.

While it may be the max this year, we've had employees collect the max in previous years. They can quit our job, go somewhere else and get laid off, and then we are responsible as a previous employer. That's where we always get stuck.

Employers fund a considerably larger percentage, the current minimum is .5% and the current maximum is 5.8%. Our new rate is 3.2% for NJ, and then there is also our contribution to Federal unemployment.

The reason NJ's unemployment is bankrupt is to quote the 09-10 Unemployment Contribution Rate paperwork sent to employers "previous administrations weakened the UI Trust Fund by diverting more than $ 4.7 billion to other uses over a period of 14 years"

The senate resolution you quoted is a resolution not law.

 

[magnumaid]

Not sure what part of the country your brother is in, but here, there are no construction vacancies to be had. those that didn't lose their jobs in the past 2 years are the only ones still working. No construction companies are looking to hire, especially personnel that does the actual construction.

I'll second this. The construction industry in NJ is hanging by a thread. I've found the job loss to be all across the industry, from labor to management. My husband is a laid off project manager and gets the max $600 NJ unemployment check. He'd be happy with a job making half of his old salary and going back to labor from managment...but there aren't any. He has many colleagues in the same situation.
Just keep swimming...

 

[Virgderon]

Rumrunnergirl- hope things get better for you soon. I think you are doing everything you can.