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Life Without Work

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Job seekers queue up to attend a job fair Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009, in Chicago. The U.S. unemployment rate, issued earlier this month, jumped to a 16 year high of 7.2 percent in December. (AP)
Job seekers queue up to attend a job fair on Jan. 27, 2009, in Chicago. The U.S. unemployment rate, issued earlier this month, jumped to a 16 year high of 7.2 percent in December. (AP)

We've all heard them. Five thousand. Ten thousand. Twenty thousand at a whack. In all parts of the country. In all sectors.

If it once sounded like distant thunder to you, it's likely to sound closer to home by now. You may have lost a job already. You may fear losing one.

What's it like when the axe comes down in this economy? We're talking with people out of work across the country about how they get by.

This hour, On Point: Reality, 2009. Life without work.

You can join the conversation. Are you out of work in America in 2009? How are you and your family managing? Do you have a job, but wonder for how long? What’s your best advice for getting by, getting through?Guests:

Today, our experts are three regular Americans from around the country who are themselves out of work.

Joining us from Mercer, Wisconsin, is Lisa Heberling. She was a sales and service coordinator at a local bank until she was downsized six weeks ago. She and her husband have a Subway sandwich shop in Mercer. She is looking for work, and is hoping to stay in banking.

With us from a studio in Mobile, Alabama, is Ronald Avery. He lives about an hour west in Gulfport, Mississippi. A former fireman, he had his own business cleaning windows on high-rise buildings. Things got slower after Hurricane Katrina, but he was managing  — until last October, when business ground to a halt in the down economy. He has four children he’s supporting, ranging from a college sophomore to a 6th grader. He is looking for work, doing odd jobs and hoping for contract employment in Iraq.

And from Stanford, California, we're joined by Ryan Kuder. He was a senior marketing executive at Yahoo until he was laid off last year. Several of his friends just lost their jobs in Yahoo’s latest rounds of job cuts. He has two children. He is trying to start a software development firm and has already launched a jobs listing website for tech workers called The Purple People Collective.

This program aired on January 29, 2009.

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