When joblessness persists

"I said, listen, if I end up being homeless, then that's where I'm going to be.... That gave me the courage to say, 'Nothing is going to get me down,' " she says. "Job is one of the Bible stories that kept me going. If Job can do it, I can do it."

She made plans to buy the hot-dog wagon, but when that fell through, she decided to start her own recruiting and HR consulting business.

At the end of 2002, two months after starting her business, Sklar declared bankruptcy to clear out some debts.

"I've simplified my life," she says. "I feel like I'm doing OK, and better, even, than when I was in corporate, because I ... don't get anxiety attacks."

Nicholas Masi, another New Jersey resident, says that being unemployed was at first a relief. A lot of pressures came along with his nearly $100,000-a-year job as a director of operations at a telecom company.

But unlike some people he knows, Mr. Masi didn't feel safe treating unemployment as a vacation. "It's a funny thing: You're either on the inside looking out - 'I want time off' - or you're on the outside looking in, saying, 'I wish I was working.' You're never satisfied."

For nearly a year, his job search occupied him daily, but he also fitted in lunch with friends and volunteer work for his Italian-American club. A recent job fair led to an opportunity as an insurance salesman.

Being paid by commission is not ideal, Masi says, and he won't have benefits for the first three months, but he's eager to get back to work - and get back to feeling the sense of accomplishment work gives him.

One option that should always be considered during a job search is project work, Mr. Theobold says.

People in their 50s or 60s often dismiss the idea because they have an image of "Kelly girl" temp workers, but many companies bring people in short term for important tasks, he says. And the contract may lead to a fulltime position down the road.

What Theobold warns against is letting project work put a halt to the hunt for a permanent job.

Bruce Ferguson of Stoughton, Mass., is trying to strike that balance. To pay the bills, he teaches part time at a business college and sells outdoor-recreation equipment at an REI store.

Mr. Ferguson started attending the WIND meetings in May, about two years after losing his job as an assistant vice president in a financial-services company.

To keep up the search for a management job at his previous level, he recently decided to scale back his hours at REI.

"When I ultimately find that job, I know I'm going to be very happy," Ferguson says. "That's what you do to keep yourself going - envision all the things you'll be able to do when you get the job, like buying that new car, or taking your wife out for a nice dinner."

To probe how joblessness is affecting Americans, the National Employment Law Project conducted a national telephone survey of some 400 unemployed adults in April. Among the survey's findings:

83% said their current job search has been harder than past searches.

61% were concerned that they would have to accept work that pays less than their previous job.

56% said they had been forced to cut back on food spending.

33% had interrupted their own or a family member's education.

33% of those who previously had health insurance said they were no longer covered.

26% had moved to other housing or moved in with relatives or friends.

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