Media outlets from across America and around the world looked on rapturously last night as tens of thousands LED lights were switched on the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. But despite all the journalists on the scene, it looks like only the Daily News noticed that there was another, less joyfully manufactured aspect to last night's festivities. Some 40 unemployed demonstrators were also at Rockefeller Center last night to protest the end of unemployment benefits, which will affect nearly millions Americans starting, oh, now. more ›

Desperate job seekers have been waiting outside a Queens union office since 4 a.m. Friday morning, in hopes of obtaining an application for an apprenticeship with Local 3, the elevator mechanics union. Hundreds of people are waiting—some set up tents while others are just standing. One man explained to WCBS 2, "We've been here pretty much all weekend. They're supposedly one of the busiest unions in the city. It's too good of an opportunity to pass up." more ›

Have you seen these shots of a shanty town set up on Mercer and Houston Streets during the Great Depression? That's right, these (first two) photographs of men in suits reading magazines, smoking cigarettes and lingering about their alternative abodes aren't from the web pages of Unhappy Hipsters—they were taken by Berenice Abbott in 1935. more ›

Recently unemployed New Yorkers took to the streets with shovels this week in hopes of turning the snowfall into a financial windfall. After a storm dumped more than 11 inches on New York, the city rallied emergency snow laborers who are paid $12 per hour "unbury fire hydrants, scrape crosswalks and create a curbside space where people can wait for the bus," according to the Times. more ›

The NY Times looks at how the end of a federal subsidy to help the unemployed cover Cobra insurance costs may result in people dropping health insurance. For one Queens resident, who was laid off from her job last year, "it reduced her monthly insurance premium to $135.93 from $388.37," but now, paying the full amount, will force her to take out money from her 401K. The Times notes, "From March through November, the federal government picked up 65 percent of the cost. But the subsidy lasts for only nine months and will not be available to people who lose their jobs after Dec. 31, unless Congress extends it. On Wednesday, the House approved a six-month extension, and the bill now goes to the Senate." more ›

With the job market remaining stagnant, more unemployed New Yorkers are volunteering for jury duty. "People are calling up, saying, 'Look, I lost my job; now would be a good time for me to serve,'" Vincent Homenick, chief clerk of the jury division for Manhattan, told the Post. "Not that $40 will pay the bills, but it's something." The unemployed aren't the only New Yorkers eager to get into the courthouse — a group of seniors dubbed "junkies for justice" travel across the city to attend the most interesting trials. Legal enthusiasts like Benjamin Rosen, 95, would rather spend their days watching real life episodes of Matlock "than watching TV soaps or playing bridge," the paper notes. "There's tension in the air," said Rosen. "It's like seeing an action movie. I like to decipher what's lies and what's true. And the courtroom is very nice and air-conditioned in the summer." more ›

When once prominent lawyer Marc Dreier was arrested for a $700 million scam, the lawyers at his firm fled and the company collapsed . One of the employees, copy machine operator and trainer Carlton Palmer, is featured in a NY Times "Neediest Cases" profile: "He learned of his unemployment by e-mail, and is still owed $2,000 in back wages." Palmer has been looking for work via job listings websites ("I don’t like to get up in the morning and not work. I like a paycheck.") and embarked on training to be a dialysis technician. The Neediest Cases helped him out with some tuition money, but he need a job to complete 2,000 hours before he can get a certification, "Sometimes you feel the pressure, but you hope for the best. You hope for the phone to ring with a 212 number." more ›

Pfizer is making a splash with news that it will give away 70 of its drugs, such as Lipitor and Viagra, to people "who lost jobs since Jan. 1 and have been on the Pfizer drug for three months or more," according to the AP. The AP points out, "The move could earn Pfizer some goodwill in that debate after long being a target of critics of drug industry prices and sales practices" and "also likely will help keep those patients loyal to Pfizer brands." Dr. Jorge Puente, Pfizer's head of pharmaceuticals outside the U.S. and Europe, told the AP, "Everybody knows now a neighbor, a relative who has lost their job and is losing their insurance. People are definitely hurting out there. Our aim is to help people bridge this point." Patients can call 866-706-2400 to sign up; in July, they'll be able to sign up through this website. more ›

Recent data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows how badly the restaurant industry is being battered by the recession. Eateries and bars shed jobs for five consecutive months through November, which is the longest stretch of downsizing since the government began tracking the info in 1990. 66,500 jobs have been lost since July, and George Prassas at the Labor Department tells the Wall Street Journal that the extended decline is "definitely something different than what the food-service industry's used to." To personalize the article (and bum everybody out), the Journal tells the sad story of one unemployed waitress on Long Island:

Dawnmarie Capuano, with 14 years of experience as a waitress, hostess and restaurant manager, was earning as much as $200 a night in tips between two jobs at an Italian restaurant and a pub. more ›

Forget emailing resumes – if you want to compete in today’s tough job market, you’ve got to be willing to sacrifice a little dignity. Or in Joshua Persky’s case, a lot of dignity: The unemployed financial engineer is trying to land a job by standing on Park Avenue wearing a big sign reading “Experienced MIT Graduate for Hire.” Wait – it gets more depressing; Persky needs a job fast so he can afford an apartment when his wife and five children move away to Nebraska next week. Maybe there's room on the sign to add "Roommate Available"? more ›