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Florida’s Unemployment
10/16/08 - 08:23 AM
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Megan Albright - bio

click for larger image Panama City, Fla:

Florida’s unemployment rate is at its highest in almost 15 years.  Now that we’re in a state of economic uncertainty, many fear that number will get even higher.  6.5% unemployment means nearly 600,000 Floridians without a job.

From August 2007 through August 2008 the Panama City area has lost about 17,000 jobs.  That’s just a piece of the total picture here in Florida, with the State losing almost 100,000 jobs in the same time period.  The State of Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation released a chart in August that ranks the ten largest states’ unemployment rates.  It lists Florida as number one, ahead of states like Texas, New York, and California.

In Panama City, the Workforce Center bustles with people searching high and low for a job.  It’s been that way for several weeks now.

“Our numbers almost doubled.  We’ve seen almost 4,000 job seekers that signed in versus a little more than 2,000 during this same period of time a year ago,” said Workforce Center Director Wilson Hair. 

Shelly Kazimour is one of those job seekers.  She wanted to get a better job and always thought a college degree would help.  She went to Gulf Coast Community College and then to FSU’s Panama City campus, graduating in May 2007.  More than a year later, the jobs she thought her degree would open up still haven’t appeared.

“I thought, ‘I’m a college graduate now.  This should be easier.’ I definitely want to get out of this waitressing and get into something in my field,” Kazimour said. 

She’s even considered moving. 

“I basically went into psychology so I could go into occupational therapy.  That’s a masters program, but I have to move from the area to go to that kind of schooling.  I can’t get up that kind of money to get moved out.”

Hair says the number of people walking through the door at the Workforce Center needing jobs has risen while the number of employers looking for people to fill positions has gone down. 

“Overall we’re probably seeing twice as many people looking for employment.  Presently we have about half the job listings we would normally have.”

The construction business is one area that’s been hit hard by the downturn in the economy and the bursting of the housing market.  In an effort to keep as many jobs as possible in that field Governor Charlie Crist has directed State agencies to expedite construction and capital outlay projects.

Unemployment Compensation

If you’ve lost your job you can turn to the State for some relief, but don’t expect a windfall.  Florida’s unemployment compensation ranges anywhere from $32 a week to $275 dollars a week depending on your employment and salary history.  That maximum applies to everyone, whether you’re a single person or a family of five.

“We used to serve 150 people at lunch time.  We’re doing 225-235 regularly.  We’re sleeping 30 people on the pews at night with beds just all filled up,” said Panama City Rescue Mission Director Reverend Billy Fox.

He says the increase is due to a failing economy.

“They don’t have substance abuse issues, or mental illness or anything like that.  They were just kind of the dirty blue collar workers who now are getting bumped out.  They were good workers and they were straight people, and now they’re ending up down here at the Mission.”

Calvin Melvin is homeless and looking for a job.  He says the process of trying to find work is long and frustrating.

“Three pages of application, then you have another test right after that on safety.  You do all that and you sit until they’re good and ready to put you out,” Melvin recalls. 

Florida’s $275 a week maximum translates to about $6.88 cents an hour, only a few cents more than the minimum wage.

Melvin says he’s considering applying for unemployment compensation and says any little bit he can get will help, even if it is not the maximum.

“One hundred would be sufficient for me right now because I have nothing.  I have three pennies in my pocket right now and that’s just from keeping my eyes on the ground when I walk.”

Floridians can only take advantage of the unemployment compensation program for six months.  At the end of that time period you can submit an emergency unemployment compensation claim which, if approved, will give you a 13 week extension.

The Federal and State government fund Florida’s unemployment compensation program with money it receives in taxes from employers.  That money goes into a trust fund held by the Federal government.  In order for the weekly pay to increase, State law makers will have to make that change.

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