Nearly Four in 10 Unemployed People Exhaust Benefits Before Finding Jobs

People in the United States are taking longer to find work, and nearly four in 10 unemployed people exhaust their benefits before receiving another paycheck.

U.S. employers added 29,000 jobs in the latest month, equal to one job for every 244 unemployed workers. The unemployment rate remained 4.2% in September, but more than seven million people were unemployed and nearly two million had been without work for at least six months.

State benefit limits can end before a job search does. Colorado provides up to six months of unemployment assistance, while North Carolina offers 12 weeks, with payments capped at $350 per week.

Cheryl Huff, who lost her Colorado state government job, said she has filed dozens of applications and received only a handful of telephone interviews. One employer sent her conflicting automated messages about the same application.

“Did you even look at my stuff?” Huff said.

Huff is paying $1,300 a month to keep her former employer’s health insurance. Her household budget relies on her unemployment payments and her husband’s Social Security income.

Evan Smith lost his job at a Colorado recreational-vehicle dealership after the business was sold. He said the number of applicants competing for each opening has made the process discouraging.

“You just feel like you're a number,” Smith said.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, former meeting planner Keke Moore has been out of work since December. After her benefits ended, her 21-year-old son began helping with household bills.

“With so many people being out of work, we're all out here, it feels like to me, fighting for scraps,” Moore said.

The expiration of benefits leaves job seekers facing continued household costs without replacement income, even as the overall unemployment rate remains relatively low.