What Is Your Personal Experience With Unemployment in This Challenging Job Market?

I've been unemployed since 2012. I live on my own. In a condo.

I had job hunted for over a year...I found a job, lost a job...And now I'm on my second stint on the unemployment...Line.

I'm seriously contemplating about just moving in with my parents.

Let's see...I'll start with...

2008, that's when I got married which is a wonderful thing! It's also when I realized I was pregnant...and my husbands consulting gigs started to slow up...

2009 my baby girl was born, but a month before that, I got laid off from my product development position at a SaaS company where a year earlier I'd been voted employee of the quarter...and unemployment started, I began applying for work and created http://www.MomsWithMS.org.

2010...looking looking looking for work...unemployment eventually ends...random little contracting jobs happen...less and less frequency though, my oldest daughter starts kindergarten. We start getting notices about foreclosure.

2011...my baby boy is born (through the pregnancy switched insurance 3x!), we lost our house to foreclosure. We find a lovely place to live, life is GREAT aside from money problems...or lack of money I should say.

I don't know what will happen next year, but it's gotta be better.

My husband has been commuting 2 hours each way to a job which he has held for the past year now. Since the economy first took a nose dive, my husband has been laid off 3 times, This is why he is now working at a company 2 hours away. We don't plan to move closer to his job because we can't afford to. Our gasoline costs are sky high. I was a stay home mom and now I work two part time jobs to help make ends meet. Despite all this, we are thankful for the job he has because it is much better than the alternative of unemployment and no health insurance.

I lost my job within days of conceiving my daughter. It did force me to make the jump into self employment which I will be forever grateful for, but MAN is it scary when things slow down in this freelance life.

I'm part of the unemployed that never gets counted -- I'm self-employed. That means I am not eligible for unemployment checks. In the last few years my income has plummeted due to the economy in my area. I don't get any bailouts, it's all up to me and my savings and taking on second jobs.

We just moved so Husband could advance in his job, but that meant leaving a full time, super great benefits job of 3 years. I'm now working 2 part time jobs, and while I feel my college degree is useless, at least I have the funds to pay my student loans.

My husband and I are in health care, a field that continues to grow and hire. We were fortunate enough that my husband had a huge raise/promotion that has allowed me to quit working and stay home with our (soon-to-be) 4 kids. We feel very blessed, even when we look at student loan debts that are bigger than our first mortgage...

I've been out of work now for almost 3 years, and haven't had any real bites since~no matter how impressive my resume is.

I have a son with a degree, a math major, and living with me. And though he is presently working, and grateful to be working, it is a job that doesn't utilize his education.

All in all, I feel bad mostly for my son, my children, because they would like to be able to begin their life. I've already had my chance in living some sort-of life.

~Virginia

I was out of work for a year before I got a job making $20K less than before.

Everybody's stories are heartbreaking and frustrating. I hope we will see a change in the economy soon. Wishing good luck to everyone with their struggles. At least we have a place to talk about it here, and hopefully strategize for potential solutions.

My husband just got laid off for the second time in the last 2 1/2 years. It's frustrating to say the least, but we're doing okay.

Moved back in with some of my family due to economy. Not proud of it but we did what we had to do. Hubby is working at part time jobs because employers don't want to hire fulltime and pay for benefits. I've been a SAHM for 6 years now and don't see a future when I do go back to work. My father hasn't been able to save for retirement well the past few years and his company might be closing some factories soon. He is considering retiring in Poland since if he retired in the US, he would have to continue working forever in order to make ends mean. In short, we hold no faith in the American Dream anymore and it's heartbreaking because we kow there is great potential in this country and it's people but the politicians and big Corporations have taken that away overseas.

Finishing my Phd - Sent CV's All over the English speaking world ( hundreds and hundreds of CV's) netted 2 interviews ( phone) so far, with no follow up.

Very discouraging - and facing over 70K in loans to start paying off at the end of it.

I also applied for jobs which did not require a PhD - but get no calls from them either since most of those jobs wouldn't hire a PhD, assuming we wouldn't stay in the job.

I am very fortunate that I have been able to stay employed during this challenging economy. However, some of my friends have not been so fortunate.

I'm a Canadian, but things are affecting us, too. I was laid off from my job as a social worker in May 2010. Our gov't changed some funding, and since the nurses' usion is far stringer than the social work union, a lot of the social work jobs were rebranded as nursing jobs. I was fortunate enough to find p/t work for a friend, running his yoga studio in January of 2011, and I just secured a 2nd p/t job last week. Even with the 2 jobs I have, I'm still making far less than I was as a sw'er... and the benefits aren't as good. It hurts, but I'm lucky. Life is good.