Surviving downturn could mean working the system
From applying for unemployment benefits to modifying a home mortgage, surviving the economic downturn could become a matter of learning how to work the system.
Southern Nevada’s unemployment rate is approaching double digits. Tens of thousands of jobs vanished in gaming and hospitality, construction and real estate-related business in 2008, part of the 2.6 million job losses nationwide. Those figures are expected to grow this year.
Homeowners are having trouble drawing equity from their homes and casino workers are seeing their lifeblood of tips dwindling from fewer and tighter gamblers.
Help is out there for people, said Lynn Baird, assistant manager of the Southern Nevada Unemployment Insurance operations center, a division of Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation.
“Probably the first thing to do is obviously remain calm,” Baird said. “That’s easy to say, not so easy to do. I’ve been in that position, all of a sudden out of a job. It’s frustrating. We’re here to help the people of Nevada.”
The application process to file an unemployment claim can be completed in 15 to 30 minutes online at www.expressclaim.org if all questions are answered completely, he said. To file by phone, the Southern Nevada number is 486-0350.
