Panic grips NY's jobless
(Albany) Adam Hagues of Albany is on the verge of panic and he is not alone.
At the end of August Hagues' unemployment insurance will run out and he has joined thousands of unemployed New Yorkers who are venting their desperation now on a New York State Labor Department blog site.
Hagues writes,"how will i pay my mortgage and bills?".
In a phone conversation with CBS 6 News Hagues said since losing his supervisoryjob a year ago in an insurance company in Glenmont, he has applied for what he described as 'hundreds of jobs". The 45 old single man said he was only called in for two job interviews.
Labor Commissioner Colleen Gardener issued a statement Monday saying that 190,000 New Yorkers like Adam are" scared of losing everything" because their unemployment insurance has been exhausted. Gardner is asking the U.S. Senate not to turn their backs on the middle class and to pass a benefits extension.
Hagues said there are 'thousands and thousands of people like me' and while job listings are inproving he said there are "five people for every one job." He also knows he's fortunate to have some savings to dig into to pay his bills, including COBRA for health care and a $784 monthly mortgage.
Still,Hagues says he is "barely surviving," and that "Republicans in the Senate" have to understand the millions of Americans affected by this.
Labor officials say there are two million Americans around the country like Adam who are panicking as their benefits dry up.
Its possible the Senate will consider the unemployment benefits package by mid week.
