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Stumble12,000 Nevadans qualify for extension of jobless benefits
Wednesday, Nov. 18, 2009 | 5:18 p.m.
Sun Archives
- Jobless benefits are extended (11-13-09)
- Nevada’s jobless rate second in nation after Michigan (10-21-09)
Sun Coverage
CARSON CITY – Some 12,000 unemployed Nevada workers who had exhausted their weekly jobless benefits will qualify for another 20 weeks of payments under legislation signed by President Obama earlier this month.
The state Department of Employment, Training & Rehabilitation says it is updating its computer system to pay the benefits.
Checks to these workers probably won’t be mailed until shortly before Christmas, officials said. But the checks will include a lump sum since the payments will be backdated to the week ending Nov. 14.
The maximum benefit for a jobless worker in Nevada is $400. The federal legislation includes money for an extra $25 a week.
The unemployment extension is being paid by the federal government. It allowed an additional 14 to 20 weeks of benefits. Nevada qualified for the 20 weeks since it has the second highest rate of unemployment in the country.
The statewide unemployment rate in September was 13.3 percent. In Clark County it was 13.9 percent.
Before the president signed the legislation, the department sent out notifications to those who exhausted their benefits and were still unemployed. They must mail their card by Nov. 22.
Those who are now getting their weekly checks will automatically be renewed under the federal legislation.
Meanwhile the National Employment Law Project says Congress must approve by the end of the year the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act that includes unemployment insurance programs.
If that is not re-enacted, the law project says there will be 1 million workers who will lose their jobless benefits in January. And by March, that number could swell to 3 million workers.
Christine Owens, executive director of the law project, said this legislation is needed even with the previous bill signed by the president extending jobless benefits 14 to 20 weeks.
“If Congress doesn’t reauthorize the programs as soon as possible, this American Recovery Reinvestment Act (passed last February) deadline will create total chaos for the state agencies and workers facing an uncertain future,” she said.
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it used to be people took pride in having a job and now we have an army of welfare recipients...remember when you got 9 weeks? throw in food stamps and you have a permanent underclass. i worked all over this country in good and bad times, funny but i always found a job. sometimes it was 2 states away but it was work....disgusting
I, too, am opposed to having any system of unemployment for people who can't find jobs during a recession... or for those who suffer because of the fact that our economy can only function with a certain percentage of the population being unemployed. No work=no food. You and your family can all starve to death, as far as folks like Timray and I are concerned. If you lose you job and you can't afford to move to another state and you can't find work here in Nevada because of the nearly 15 percent unemployment rate, you should starve to death or die from exposure, and so too should the other members of your family, especially your kids.
It may not be your fault, and there may be nothing you can do about it, but tough. No one every promised anyone a rose garden, right?
Or maybe some people are just dicks [see above comment].
Here's a legitimate question;
Why on EARTH would it take til' "just before Christmas" to get checks out to folks? Are the people with the state THAT incompetent that they can't figure out such a simple thing? The mind boggles.
I feel for the people who are currently out of the job, but even though times are tough there are still many jobs, some which we could never imagine even doing it because we are too good for them or just too proud to do, we think they are "degrading" to our image or to our level of education, I can tell you there is nothing wrong with an honest earned dollar that provides roof and food to our family!
But sadly because of the system our own goverment implements we have started building some lazy people.
I have know couple of folks whom I have helped get setup for interviews and even gotten job offers but instead they choose to stay home, play video games and allow us taxpayers and our goverment support their lazy a**es, I bet you there are lots more like that amongst those 12,000...
Sad Sad Sad
I want to tell anyone who is reading this that some of the most highly skilled, hardworking, and upstanding working people are now unemployed in this state.
Many aren't "public dole-ers". They are people who actually believed that there was a future here for them. They took jobs when they were available, legitimately bought houses, legitimately started families, and did each and every day what good hard working people do.
And then they were thrown, and I mean thrown, out of work. They didn't control what was done to them by way of the upper corporate eschelons that controlled the money. Money that was irresponsibly gambled away by their corporate owners on lackluster business expansions and poorly thought out contraptions of projected profit.
But the hard working people at the bottom were to be none the wiser. And they believed, many times over, in the hooligan owners who led them to believe there was a future and capitalist profits to be had.
I know this because I have talked to these people. I personally know people who believed the hucksters, believed that there was a future in their worklife here, and believed that if they just worked hard enough they would succeed.
They were unknowlingly fooled by the fools.
These extended benefits are the right thing to do to help save these people. Give them a fighting chance in this wrecked economy that was so tragically devastated by the gambling gurus of corporate capitalism.
Is capitalism bad? Absolutely not! It is the greatest form of monetary discourse on the planet. Does capitalism, and the capitalists, have a responsiblity to help those who believed in the system, but through not fault of their own have become dangerously weakened by the fallout of this economic recklessness?
I say yes.
I welcome this extension of benefits to those who truly deserve it in this state. And I scoff at those who claim this is nothing more than an extension of the welfare state. To the contrary, it is the capitalistic responsible thing to do.
And I truly believe that we will be the better for it.
wizard -- you're too kind with "hooligan" for people who don't deserve kindness! Good counterpoint here -- do keep it up.
wizard;
AMEN to that.
Disgustedlv;
Your post reeks of B.S.
In point of fact, and this has been pointed out SEVERAL TIMES, many folks who are out of work right now are individuals who are simply overqualified to flip burgers and such. If I'm the burger joint manager, I don't want some 40 year old with a Masters degree working for me. He or She will be moving on, one way or another, too soon to be worth my while. If I'm a 50+ year-old displaced worker, I'm gonna have issues because of my age. These are just a couple of examples of the many, many complications that are keeping folks unemployed. You genius's claiming "there's jobs out there if you'll just stoop a little lower" are full of it. Yes, there are a few jobs here and there, and yes, people are getting hired. But the fact is, employment growth is still a NEGATIVE NUMBER here. More jobs are still going away than there are job openings. SO, for every person getting a gig, there's more than 1 being let go, and subsequently looking for work.
All of you "experts" that think people are "just being lazy" and living off handouts because they "want to" are OBLIVIOUS TO REALITY.
Rusty, i think it's just you that is the dick.
The article says that Nevada gets 20 weeks of benefits but Nevada will only get 14 weeks because of a mistake in the wording of the bill. To get the last 6 weeks Congress will have to pass a new bill which extends the filing deadline for the last 6 weeks of benefits past December 31.
Poor souls, I hope things pick up soon.
An Unemployed person is you without a job.
I hope you always get the attitude you give and that some of our less sympathetic brethren learn from experience.
Just a comparison, in Britain, benefits, including rent, are paid until people find jobs, however long it takes. The NHS provides all health care free at the point of delivery, and the children of people on low incomes get free school meals.
Britain is smaller than most US states and no one is calling anyone anything.
Unemployment is not the end of the world.
Kicking a man when he is down is not the best way to help him get on his feet.
When you were a kid and you were learning to ride a bike, when you fell off, your Dad picked you up, he didn't yell at you.
gmag39
You told it like it is. The moronic rantings of Timray and Rusy******** are just that - rantings. Wait until THEY feel the pinch when Nevada and Las Vegas realize how many people have moved out of State to other cities and taken their revenue in the form of sales taxes, real estate taxes and everything else with them and those left will have to pick up the slack in the former of HIGHER taxes and higher prices everywhere.
Those on unemployment do not want to be unemployed. I know too many people, along with myself, who sent out resumes and applied for jobs that were just above minimum wage. You never got a call back or an interview because we were all TOO experienced. And yes, someday all would be going on to other jobs in their chosen careers - or in the alternative - just leave Nevada totally and go someplace where they can find a job. No employer is going to take the chance in hiring someone that is not going to stay on the job for a decent amount of time.
And Timray and Rusty******* - You MAY BE NEXT ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT ROLLS. NO ONE'S job is secure any longer regardless of your profession. Those days are gone forever regardless of where one lives. Remember: Karma is a bitch - what goes around comes around.
Munch - I think Rusty agrees with you, if you read his post a little closer. Sarcasm is tough to get across on here though!
If you lose you job and you can't afford to move to another state and you can't find work here in Nevada because of the nearly 15 percent unemployment rate, you should starve to death or die from exposure, and so too should the other members of your family, especially your kids.
It may not be your fault, and there may be nothing you can do about it, but tough. No one every promised anyone a rose garden, right?
No,Lakeside. Rusty does NOT agree with me. Sadly, there are too many that don't have family to help them or anyone to help them and are stuck because they can't move to another state, can't find work in Las Vegas, have tried to get a job but with no luck because of so many unemployed. So what are they supposed to do but to rely on unemployment. They and their children don't deserve to go hungry or die from exposure. His comments are nasty. It is no longer the lazy asses collecting unemployment. It's your friends, family, your neighbors. Good people who got caught in this awful mess this country is in. A little compassion goes a long way and obviously he has none and neither does Tim. Like I said - Karma is a bitch.
It is a shame that some people don't understand sarcasm. I can only imagine the feigned outrage should Swift's "A Modest Proposal" be published in this day and age. And, perhaps had Ambrose Bierce's proposal for punctuation to indicate sarcasm gained traction, there wouldn't be such problems.
But, alas, for those interested, I lost my job in September. I've been unable to find work despite having send out hundreds of applications in the past three months. And I'm not just looking in Las Vegas or Nevada or even the Southwest. I've sent applications across the pond, to the Caribbean, even to that wasteland of Old Dixie. But nothing. It's a tough job market right now, and while I look for work, I am collecting unemployment.
The whole point of my post was to rebuke the post from people like Timray who seems to think that there shouldn't be a safety net because he's never needed one.
At least there was one person who was able to pick up on the sarcasm, so maybe there is still hope after all...
Under normal circumstances...the regular unemployment benefit would have been fine. Since this is NOT our normal recession something needed to be done to help them a bit further. I am so glad I don't have to be in the job market.For sure I'd be in line along with the next guy.
and again rusty shackleford,maybe if you learned how to spell a little better you'd find a damn job.just cause someone tried saying that you were using sarcasm don't try acting like that's what you were doing and try quoting scripture to make you look smart.we all know from your spelling that you are far from a scholar.