RJ and Makay

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A majority of the unemployed in this country no longer receive unemployment benefits, according to government sources.  Early last year, 75% of the jobless were receiving unemployment benefits.  That figure has now dropped to 48%.  The shift points to a growing crisis of long-term unemployment.  Almost one-third of currently unemployed people have been without a job for over a year.

When Gallup pollsters recently asked 1,000 Americans to name the biggest problem facing the country, 35% said "unemployment," making joblessness their number one concern for the second straight month. It's also the highest percentage of Americans to give that response in more than a quarter century, since October of 1983.

By contrast, the economy in general ranked second, with 29% of those polled saying it was the most important problem facing the country. Healthcare was third and dissatisfaction with the government, fourth.