The unfortunate part of NY Unemployment Insurance (and maybe other states) the max of $460/week is based on your work history wages. That $1600+ bucks/month that Gary speaks of is the max. It could be a lot less - and some of those min salary waiting to be filled, 40 hours per week, jobs will pay less then the unemployment someone may be getting. You add in transportation, clothing, outside meals - now you are losing even more. Of course there is pride in working for a living, but unfortunately, that doesn't put food on the table when those few extra (maybe) bucks are being spent. Then taxes ------ Almost all of the markets here, retail and 7-11 type stores have signs posted looking for help, both full and PT - and they go begging. If I choose to become a greeter at Walmart - my SS takes a big hit. My wife's SS is already being affected (income taxes) as she works PT for our town. So who does that leave? Here - we have only about 5% unemployment. This then gets you into the basic 'unemployables', the lazy, the untrainables, those with felony records, drug and alcohol problems to fill those low end, but important job. We can also discuss the companies with a pile of cash - that will not replace help or even expand until they know what the 2700 pages of Obamacare plus the 16,000 pages of new regulations based on that law will be doing to them. Then there are the hundreds of other new regulations (taxes and fees?) that the Obama Administration has levied.

I guess I got a little of the subject, but that unemployment situation is a legacy of this administration - and it just went back up to 8.3% as reported today. And those libs that want to chime in that it's Bush's fault, don't forget that the last two+ years of his Presidency, the Dems controlled both houses crippling any repairs to employment and finances.