Expiring jobless benefits in depressed economy a recipe for disaster

Holland, MI —

Neisha understands where people are coming from when they say people abuse unemployment benefits.

But for her, that’s simply not the case.

After getting laid off at a retail store in June 2009, she went back to school for a dental assistant certificate.

She knows jobs are out there, but plenty of dental assistants are, too.

“Honestly, it’s really hard to find anything comparable to what you had before, especially when you’ve been out of work for a year,” said Neisha, who uses the Michigan Works office in Holland. She did not want her last name used.

Unless Congress votes to retroactively extend federal unemployment benefits, Neisha will get her last check in January.

She’s not alone. In fact, 11 percent of all Ottawa and Allegan county residents are currently receiving some level of unemployment benefits, according to the Michigan Unemployment Insurance Agency. That’s down from 15.5 percent in October 2009.

Although the number of people receiving unemployment has decreased by 15,618 in the past year, the number of workers nearing the end of their 99 weeks of benefits actually has grown.

Those within the last 20 weeks of the 99-week benefits cycle have gone from 5,426 in 2009 to 6,649 this fall in Ottawa and Allegan counties.

Congress, meanwhile, has not extended unemployment. Some lawmakers say they won’t approve more unemployment extensions unless there’s a way to pay for them.

Expiring benefits in a down economy are a recipe for disaster, according to the Michigan League for Human Services, because people on unemployment nearly always put their checks directly toward basic needs like food and transportation.

“It’s going to have a huge impact on our local economies,” said Judy Putnam, spokeswoman for MLHS. “Think about all these folks in your area that won’t be shopping at the stores.”

Job seekers, of course, need the economy to get better, not worse.

Jeff, for example, has degrees in horticulture, vegetable crop production and genetics.

Although he loves working with plants, this 59-year-old former University of Arkansas professor has been flipping burgers at a Holland McDonald’s for the last three years.

He grew tomatoes for seed production without luck this summer. And his job search seems to lead from one dead end to another.