Bad enough that it is considered taxable income.
"Extra jobless aid is cut in Mass.; Thousands to lose US benefits as economy picks up" by Kaivan Mangouri, Globe Correspondent / June 21, 2011
Thousands of Massachusetts residents will lose jobless benefits beginning next month as the state’s steadily declining unemployment rate disqualifies it for the extra federal assistance provided earlier in the recession.
Related: Boston Globe Unemployment Office
Unemployed workers will lose seven weeks of benefits under the rules of a federal program that extends eligibility based on state unemployment rates. Residents in states with rates above 8 percent are eligible to collect 20 weeks of additional benefits under this program; once the three-month average is below 8 percent, residents are eligible for 13 weeks.
The Labor Department notified the state late Friday that its average unemployment rate had fallen below the 8 percent threshold and eligibility for extended benefits will be shortened by seven weeks. An estimated 20,000 residents already in this program could be cut off from benefits sooner than expected....
“The recovery is not as robust as we would like, but since December 2009 we’ve been growing — the Massachusetts economy is getting back jobs,’’ said Judith L. Cicatiello, the state’s director of unemployment assistance.
This federal assistance, known as extended benefits, is the unemployment program of last resort....
Despite the state’s improving economy, jobless workers — particularly those losing benefits — still face a tough labor market....
Michael Goodman, an economic analyst at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, said the improvement in the statewide average hides an uneven recovery that has concentrated its benefits in technology and research-oriented industries that tend to be centered around Greater Boston. Jobs are particularly hard to find in blue collar occupations such as construction and manufacturing, and in regions beyond the Interstate 495 belt....
That explains the disconnect out here.
Also see: Working Class Man
There are signs of improvement in the economy. Many staffing and recruiting firms say that demand for workers is increasing among employers.
I'm so sick of being bullshitted by the Boston Globe.
Kip Hollister, chief executive of the Boston-based staffing firm Hollister Inc., said her company is seeing particular demand for workers in technology, creative services, sales, and administration.
Skilled candidates are getting placed in about a week, compared to three or four weeks a year ago. And companies aren’t just replacing people or bringing in temps, she said, they’re adding new positions.
“Our candidates are getting multiple offers, they’re getting counteroffers,’’ she said, “and this we have not experienced since well before this past recession.’’
That would be the good old Bush days, wouldn't they?
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Related: Long-promised loan aid for jobless is launched
Isn't it a little late? I'm sure it's all to the benefit of banks anyway.
See: Sunday Globe Special: Foreclosure F*** Over
Oh, they really helped.
