Saturday, December 28, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Help, hope running out for jobless

Benefits come to an end for many without work

Lorrie Robinson looks through a list of job opportunities Friday at Nevada Jobconnect, a state agency that helps workers find employment. She was laid off at an aluminum mining company in Montana 15 months ago. Photo by Jeff Scheid.

James, a 30-year-old former security manager, is more interested in finding a new job than in obtaining extended unemployment benefits. But he said the unemployment benefits are key to retaining his apartment while he looks for work.

"Without the unemployment benefits, we would have been looking at actual poverty," he said, referring to his wife and three boys, ages 3 to 7.

That looms as a real possibility for many of the state's estimated 4,400 jobless workers who will receive their last check next week under the temporary extended unemployment benefits program.

Of those, about 3,700 live in the Las Vegas area, according to Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev. Analysis done for Berkley indicates that another 9,800 workers in the Las Vegas area will lose benefits by March 31 if Congress fails to renew the extended program.

Extending the program would bring a total of $40 million in unemployment benefits for those area residents, according to Berkley.

Federal funding for the extended program ends today, marking the end of checks for people who already have received 26 weeks of benefits through the state's standard unemployment program.

The checks provide a safety net for local job-seekers like James, who declined to give his last name. The average Nevadan receiving extended unemployment benefits received $212 a week, according to the state employment office.

James traces his woes to the country's economic slump.

He finished two years at UNLV before his growing family forced him to go to work. He was employed as head of security for the Jewish Community Day School. Contributions declined during the recession. The school closed, and he joined the unemployed in June.

His wife doesn't work, so James initially relied on unemployment checks to pay essential expenses. He found work in Tennessee as a kosher butcher at a supermarket chain. His wife and children traveled east with him, but he couldn't afford the housing.

Family stress resulted from financial difficulties, he said.

"Almost as bad as being unemployed is being underemployed," he said. "That's a stress that doesn't go away, because the bills keep piling up and things start to look hopeless."

His wife returned to live with her parents in Las Vegas and filed for divorce. He followed the family back to Las Vegas but is living separately and trying to find a new job.

"The process of getting a job requires more focus and discipline for me than any of the jobs I've worked at," James said while waiting to see a state employment counselor at the Nevada Jobconnect office building at 3405 S. Maryland Parkway. "You have to be up early and out early and take advantage of all the resources available, because (relying on newspaper ads alone) doesn't get it done anymore."

Congress left for the year without extending the federal benefits, meaning 750,000 to 800,000 unemployed workers nationwide will get cut off today.

Another 95,000 jobless workers will exhaust their state benefits each week afterward. Already, 1 million people have exhausted all of their benefits.

Congress is expected to consider extending the benefits again when it reconvenes Jan. 7.

"I think the (Bush) administration is looking at legislation that would would extend the unemployment benefits," said Michael O'Donovan, press secretary to Berkley.

"I expect (Republicans) will follow the lead of the president," O'Donovan said, adding that his boss favors extending the program.

Before adjourning for the holidays, two competing bills were languishing in Congress. A $5 billion plan from the Democratic-controlled Senate would have extended benefits 13 weeks for people now receiving them or who were newly eligible. A $900 million plan from the GOP-led House would have given five extra weeks for workers in a few states with high unemployment rates.

If the federal government renews extended unemployment benefits, it could benefit the economy and retailers, as well as unemployed people like James.

"Some people think it will put money in peoples' pockets, so it benefits the economy," said Peter Janson, an economist with the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation. "It's going to benefit the people that are most likely to spend it."

Nevada's employment department distributed a total of $882,519 in extended benefits for the week ending Dec. 14, said Karen Rhodes, a spokesman for the state employment department.

Lorrie Robinson, 41, lost unemployment benefits last month and has been doing temporary work, such as housekeeping, when she can find it. She was employed in a Montana aluminum smelter until 15 months ago.

She said the smelter owners learned they could make more money accepting payments for eliminating their power consumption and shutting down. She was laid off and came to Las Vegas looking for job opportunities.

"There's a lot of them that pay $5, $6 or $7 a hour, but, as a single parent, you can't live on that," she said. "I'm not talking about going out partying or anything extra. I'm just talking about living, existing."

Her youngest son, 18, will be completing massage therapy training soon and moving out. Meanwhile, she shares a mobile home with a girlfriend.

Shannon Rhodes, 49, quit a job as a cashier at a discount store in Bakersfield, Calif., earlier this month to move to Las Vegas, where her fiance works as a manager for a home improvement center.

She previously worked for a produce importer and exporter.

"I've talked to people all over the world," she said. Nevertheless, she encountered culture shock in Las Vegas. She grew up on a farm and then lived in Bakersfield, where people are outgoing and businesses "close down at 2 o'clock." In contrast, she finds Las Vegans aloof, busy and self-focused.

Unemployment in Nevada registered at 4.6 percent in November, compared with 6 percent nationally. During the 1990s, Nevada experienced unemployment lower than 4.6 percent, Janson said, "but historically 4.6 percent is a low rate."

Unemployment in Nevada averaged 5.3 percent in 2001, 4.1 percent in 2000 and 4.4 percent in 1999.

Susan Hamilton, 46, worked as a cashier for a supermarket until she resigned because of a heart condition a year ago. She said she was unable to lift heavy products for customers. The state denied her unemployment benefits, and she is awaiting the outcome of an appeal.

Hamilton, who lives with her parents, said the state has offered to retrain her for work that doesn't involve heavy lifting. "I'm going to try to keep in the same field," she said.

Local workers in the telecommunications and air transportation industries have been hardest hit in the current environment, Janson said.

The mining industry has "very weak growth," Janson added. "In the rural areas, mining is doing really bad."

Hotels and casinos have gradually boosted their staffing levels since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The gaming and tourism industry has yet to rebound completely, because fear of flying is keeping some tourists at home, he said.

"I don't know that we've completely recovered from 9-11, but, throughout this year, Nevada seems to be recovering gradually, slowly but surely," he said.

On the other hand, low interest rates on mortgages have spurred a boom in construction and home building, he said.

Similarly, the finance, insurance and real estate industries are doing well, mainly due to brisk real estate sales and mortgage refinancing.

Individuals are investing more in residential real estate, given the slump in stock prices over the last two years, he said.

"They're not only buying up, but also buying second homes," Janson said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.