Posted on 07/06/2010 7:25:22 AM PDT by Atlas Sneezed
Yes, unemployment is taxable income.
I have two close friends here in S.E. Michigan who lost their jobs in Mar. 2008. Both have attended numerous "jobs fairs" which they say were just a joke. The only "employers" there were representatives of home based business scams and some real estate companies. NO MANUFACTURING OR TECH INDUSTRY COMPANIES WHATSOEVER.
I lost my job of 35 years in November of 2006 and spent all of 2007 sending out resume's without one single job interview. Fortunately I was elig. for a reduced pension from my company and decided to take it in December of 2007.
There was a time when the local papers had help wanted ads from small businesses and job shops but over the past year and a half there has been absolutely nothing other than ads for telemarketers and Avon sales reps.........All the job shops have gone out of business.
I have another friend who lost his job with the GM Tech Center a few years ago who accepted a contract job in North Carolina which only lasted about 6 months. His wife stayed home and he rented an apartment there which didn't leave too much more for him to send home. Wayne is about 62 and not financially able to retire so that's why he's been working at any kind of job he can find.........He has already had to sell his house at a loss and move into a smaller place in Warren.
I survived the recession years under Jimmy Carter and saw huge layoffs at my company, over 800 people by my recollection. All our manufacturing suppliers were affected also by our reduction in manufacturing and they in turn had to lay off employees.
However, as the economy turned around, our manufacturing demands returned and people were called back to work and new hires added. The same thing for our suppliers.
BUT THAT IS NOT THE CASE TODAY. Our stamping plant in Philadelphia was closed down in 2002 and my Detroit plant closed down at the end of 2006. The same thing applies for all the small tool and die companies that I refer to as "job shops". Most of them have gone out of business, their machinery sold off and the buildings are now vacant. These small companies were the heart and soul of the auto industry here in Michigan and will never return.........
When I hear of how our auto industry jobs are being shipped overseas I just shake my head and laugh. How many deck lids or quarter panels or floor pans or Lincoln Navigator side bodies or ford T-Bird doors are being manufactured abroad? NONE!
There aren't any automotive jobs being shipped overseas, the plants being built there are for the automobiles that will ultimately be sold in those respective countries. Case in point being the decades old agreement Canada had with our auto companies. For every 5 automobiles sold there, 3 had to be built there............that makes sense to me.
And lets not forget how many foreign automakers now have plants in the U.S. that are building their cars for our consumption and providing jobs for Americans.........
I know ... it’s tragic what is going on out there.
People who have NEVER collected from the government are being forced to do so to survive. We are eliminating the middle class. There will be two classes, the lower and upper and nothing in between.
The job problem is hitting the YOUNG and OLDEST the hardest.
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