One in the crowd

I'm really feeling it tonight. I hate, hate, hate being unemployed. There are millions of us, I know, and even a generation name for kids moving back in with their parents. But it doesn't make it easier to know I'm in good company. In fact, it's sucks to know there are more people who feel like this.

"The BLS says the average length of unemployment has increased from 29.4 weeks in November 2009 to 34.5 weeks last month. Nearly 10% of the USA's 15.1 million jobless have been looking for work for two years or more.

Some workers despair. 'I don't know when I'll work again,' says Ricky Browner, 30, of Passaic, N.J., who lost his construction job two years ago. 'This thing goes on and on.'"

This thing goes on and on. And:

"The longer somebody doesn't have a job, the harder it is to get a new job," Hassett says. "The reality is that if you're out of [a] job, and you're looking for a job, then the new employer's going to say, 'Well, why don't you have a job now? What's wrong with you?' "

So it's been 6 months, and the longer I'm out of work the less desirable I am to others. I have a contracting gig right now (which I don't know how it's going to effect my unemployment but I don't care yet), so at least I'm "working."