The economic news gets worse by the day. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate surged to 8.1 percent in February, its highest in 25 years, with 651,000 jobs lost last month.
Financial industry workers have been hit hardest by the recession. But in recent weeks, there have been waves of layoffs at companies like I.B.M., where workers once seemed safe from the economic storm.
In this sinking economy, what should you be prepared to do if you lose your job?
- Katherine S. Newman, professor of sociology
- Michael Melcher, executive coach
- Michael Gates Gill, author and Starbucks worker
- Stephen Viscusi, author and headhunter
- Harley Shaiken, labor expert
- Bob Adler, self-employed consultant
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