Unemployment figure misleading

Jim Imes, Henderson

Thursday, Oct. 11, 2012 | 2:02 a.m.

I am one of those Americans who, after two years and hundreds of applications and working with our local unemployment office, finally gave up looking for a job.

I went to all the classes that the unemployment office sent me to, for interviews, job fairs, etc. The Internet job sites give tips; I’ve read them all, especially the ones that said companies are looking for experienced baby boomers. This is so not true.

The minute you go to an interview and they see your graying hair, it’s over. It doesn’t matter if you nail the interview or if you have 30 years of managerial experience, businesses are looking for people in their 20s or 30s who will be longtime employees. It’s age discrimination, of course, but you can’t prove it.

The current unemployment rate is at 7.9 percent, but in reality it is much higher. It doesn’t factor in people who have given up looking for jobs, especially baby boomers. But it also doesn’t factor in people who can only find part-time work, which is not enough to support yourself or a family. A lot of people have moved in with relatives just so they don’t have to sleep under a bridge. I would like to see the real number of people who are not working. That would be a true picture of what is really going on in America.