NEWS ITEM: At least 30 states have contracted with banks to provide direct-deposit unemployment benefits, some of which come in the form of a debit card. This saves the states the cost of printing checks and mailing them.
REALITY: Some banks are abusing the system by charging fees to use these unemployment debit cards. Try $20 [...]
Okay, forget the official figure of 7.2 percent that the media quote for U.S. unemployment.
As the accompanying graphic from Shadow Stats shows, what the media report is called the U3 unemployment rate–the officially unemployed shown on the bottom red line. When you add in “discouraged” and “marginally attached” workers, you get the middle line on [...]
Unemployment insurance was commenced in 1935 as a bridge between jobs, but this recession seems to be testing the limits of the system and revealing some inherent cracks.
First, not all states run their unemployment programs the same or use the same eligibility standards. The result of this disparity nationwide is that some 37 percent of [...]
I ran across a blog posting today by someone named Chef Sheila, but it appears as if the article itself was done by someone else judging by the first paragraph that praises “this journalist’s informative piece” (unless she’s vainly referring to and complimenting herself).
Be that as it may, the piece is called “Meltdown 101: Unemployment [...]
