Unemployment Survival

Unemployment, spiking. Citigroup announcing this week it will cut 50,000 jobs. The Fed says joblessness will go higher next year.

For many, the axe has already fallen. For others, who may never have dreamed of unemployment, the thought now trickles in. Could it be me? Next? Or next year? And what if it is? It’s time to know your rights, your options, your Plan B.

This hour, On Point: Good advice. Making it through the tumbling job market.Guests:

Kelly Evans, reporter for The Wall Street Journal.

Maurice Emsellem, co-policy director for the National Employment Law Project. He just co-authored a report for the Center for American Progress called "Helping the Jobless Helps Us All: The Central Role of Unemployment Insurance in America's Economic Recovery."

Dustin Swayne, employment counselor at the state-run Tennessee Career Center in Nashville.

Patricia Smith, senior vice president at New Directions, a private Boston-based career consulting center for professionals.

More Links:

Unemployed Workers — an online forum and resource for jobless and underemployed workers, provided by the National Employment Law Project.

CareerOneStop.org, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, "offers career resources and workforce information to job seekers, students, businesses, and workforce professionals." It features a service locator map for all 50 states, including unemployment insurance filing assistance.

"Will the Safety Net Catch Economy’s Casualties?" — Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times looked at America's fraying social safety net in last Sunday's Week in Review.