About the Bay: Jobs Outlook Still Rough For Many Bay Area Seekers
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The nation's unemployment numbers keep looking better and better on paper. But in the real world, it's a different story. The nation's unemployment rate went down almost half of a percent in January, but analysts say that's not as good as it seems because those numbers only count those people who are in the market for a job.
KCBS' Mike Sugerman Reports About the Bay:
"What those numbers mean is that several hundred thousand people simply stopped looking for work last month," said KCBS Financial Editor Jason Brooks.
"It's devastating," said 51-year-old Mark Singer. "I never thought it would be this hard."
Singer lost his job as a librarian three years ago, and has been surviving by cobbling together a string of part time jobs.
"We've been living off of savings," said Singer. "We've cashed in 401Ks and IRAs. It's pretty close to desperate."
"We have been working with literally thousands of people in their 50s and 60s who have lost their jobs, some of whom who have been out of work for close to two years now," said Abby Snay of JVS Vocational Services.
She has been in the business for 35 years, and said that she's never seen it this bad.
"It's likely that the jobs these people are going to get aren't going to pay as much, or be at the same status level, or have the same stability and security as the jobs they lost," said Snay.
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