Unemployment Gloom

In the past few days we’ve heard about the disappointing unemployment numbers and how we may be going “back into a recession.”  (Back?  You mean we were actually out of it?)  There have been stories about the effects on older workers and on the long-term unemployed.  I move into my eight month of unemployment as someone over age 55 and I relate to it all.

People receiving unemployment insurance are required to make at least two employer contacts every week, or in other words, apply for at least two jobs.  I have found that is difficult to do—there is just nothing out there for me.  Last week I applied for another job at a hospital in order to meet my quota, knowing that they will probably reject me again—but I have already submitted a resume so it’s easy.  I meet the qualifications for these jobs, but I have no medical experience and with so many applicants, they can find people who do.  And I’m not really sure I want this sort of job anyway.

What do I do next?  My unemployment insurance runs out soon, I think—they don’t really tell me and I keep getting extensions.  Unfortunately, we need the money.  If we didn’t perhaps I would declare myself retired like a number of my friends.  It’s not as if I cannot find enough to do.  My volunteer hours seem to be gradually increasing.  I do find this fulfilling, but I also feel I am taken for granted at times.  I have an acre with vegetables, fruit, flowers, and grass which need my attention.  There are personal projects, long neglected, such as family genealogy.  I could read more.  I could work at cultivating friendships.  The list goes on.  However, the job hunt hangs over me.

Some days I am fine.  I do my online job search, work on some volunteer thing, putter in my garden.  The sunshine helps.  But a gray day can make me all the more gloomy, especially after reading the discouraging headlines.  Today is one of those days for me.