Jobless for the Holidays

The country's economic crisis has more families struggling to make ends meet and more Americans without jobs. The number of people receiving unemployment benefits is at the highest level in more than twenty-five years according to a report released Thursday by the Labor Department. That’s nearly four million Americans depending on an unemployment check.

With Christmas just around the corner, many don't know where their next meal will come from - much less gifts for their families or a feast for Thanksgiving. It has been three weeks since Venicia Smith lost her job. Her boyfriend Bruce has been out of work since June. "It’s just the three of us. We have to look out for each other," says Smith. With the holiday season here, the young couple is thinking about their baby girl. "My baby is one and this is really her first Christmas, so I’m kind of nervous about it because I want her to have a good one, but...”

Smith and her family aren't alone. With the number of people continuing to received unemployment at its highest since 1983, when the nation was coming out of a deep recession,
The South Carolina Unemployment Office in Spartanburg is seeing more people than ever before. According to Local Veterans Employment Representative Benjamin Rogers he has never seen greater need in his 32 years on the job. “This going to be particularly the worst Christmas a lot of people will encounter… A lot of people are going through stress and disappointment. They are not going to be able to buy food, clothing, for the kids that they've previously been buying for Christmas." His best advice to those he works with every day? "I know it's tough, but don't give up, because you know, I got a feeling that things are going to work out."

That’s just what Venicia Smith is counting on. One semester away from graduating from college with a degree in chemistry, she needs work to get her family through the holidays. "With the way the economy is right now, I would prefer one in my major, but anything that pays the bills right now with my situation. I'll take what I can get." So that Amelia's first Christmas will be the kind every mom dreams of for her daughter.

On Friday the government releases the October unemployment report, expected to show significant job losses. Democrats in Congress are pushing to include an extension of unemployment benefits in a new stimulus package, which could be taken up this month.
Benefits typically last 26 weeks.