5 Million Americans are now Collecting Unemployment

Here is a snippet of an article from MSNBC.

WASHINGTON - Almost 5 million Americans continued to draw jobless benefits late last month, and new requests again exceeded 600,00 as companies lay off scores of workers and the unemployed find it harder to get a job amid a deepening recession.
The Labor Department said Thursday that the number of initial jobless benefit claims dropped to a seasonally-adjusted 623,000, from an upwardly revised figure of 631,000 the previous week. The latest tally still was above analysts' expectations of 610,000 claims.
And in a sign that laid-off workers are having difficulty finding new work, the number of people claiming benefits for more than one week rose to 4.81 million from 4.78 million, the highest total since records began in 1967. The continuing claims data lag new claims by a week.

Is this the sign of our times? More people collecting unemployment. I can tell you from my experiences that finding a job is tough. I have been unemployed for 2.5 months. I send out on an average about 10 job applications or resumes weekly. The jobs I'm looking at don't even come close to the salary I had at my old job. I'm willing to take a pay cut in order to get my foot in the door at a business.

I feel sorry for those who will soon be joining the ranks of the unemployed. I have heard of rumors regarding companies and what their employees are being told. In conversations with recruiters, they have seen a major increase in the number of resumes that come into their businesses. Competition for a job is extremely high while salaries are decreasing.

What is there left to do? Wait for the government to fix it? Corporations need to start listening to the conservative analysts. Some are stating that the economy will start picking up in the second half of this year or very early next year. They are cutting back on talent rather than weathering the storm. I don't think that is very intelligent. I have talked with colleagues of mine in the high-tech industry. They do not understand why their own companies are willing to lay off employees when there is product to develop and move out the door. It doesn't make much sense. If you are a finance person, I guess it does.

I'm more customer-oriented and I would rather prepare for the future rather than be coward in the present.