The economic news lately has not been good. With the election behind us, our country turns hopeful eyes to the future. For many, it can’t come soon enough. As the economic crisis widens, we have heard about layoffs from such giants as Circuit City and Citi Group. Recently, the governing board of the University of Texas voted to lay off over 3,000 employees at Galveston’s University of Texas Medical Branch.

This is not only a major hit to the people working there, but this is just another after effect of Hurricane Ike. This is not good, because local unemployment rate for October is 5.4 percent, up from 5.1 percent in September, just below the national average, 6.5 percent.

It would be easy to blame Hurricane Ike, however, this is not the case. Last week, the Labor Department announced that new claims for unemployment benefits jumped last week to a 16-year high. If that is not bad enough, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday released projections that the jobless rate will climb to between 7.1 percent and 7.6 percent next year.

It is not easy to lose a job, sometimes it can be made worse when friends and family accidentally say something callous and ill-considered words trying to find some way to console you. Being let go from your job can be difficult, stressful and surprising all at once. Without a job to go to, you suddenly feel you have been stripped of one’s personal worth and identity; leaving a gap that needs to be filled. Days you look for that small glimmer of hope that somebody actually thinks you are good enough to work for them.

Since we do go through life labeling ourselves in terms of the work we do, the type of response we give – “what we do” – becomes the heart of numerous subtle judgments, ranging from a person’s worth, financial status, intelligence, education level, ambition, and social position.

So just imagine, if you no longer have that defining “label,” we are not only admitting to ourselves but to the world, “I don’t do anything,” which may seem equivalent of saying “I am nothing.” Depending on how long a person is unemployed, less value is put on you. Many presume if you are unemployed the person must be “lazy” or “a bum” because we are conditioned to think if a person who has been unemployed for a long period of time must seriously not be looking for a job.

Three years ago I was laid off and since then, I am still unemployed. Throughout these three years I have applied for literally every job I felt I qualified for, and nineteen times out of twenty, I didn’t hear back. We are talking about jobs for which I knew I was the ideal candidate. During the year, I have been a finalist for several, but never to get the position.

This year was a little better, unlike the last two years, I worked on a couple of contracts that paid me pretty well. Since Thanksgiving is suppose to be thankful, I will use this opportunity to do so. While being unemployed has its downside, I can’t not help but reflect on the opportunities that came my way this year.

Since 2006, the Latino/a blogosphere in the US has grown by leaps and bounds. I am thankful I had the opportunity to be part of it. As editor/publisher of this blog and co-founder of the Sanctuary, I and my fellow bloggers had the opportunity to collaborate with nation organizations such as, National Council of La Raza, America’s Voice, National Immigration Forum, Fair Immigration Reform Movement, and Voto Latino, this is just to name a few.

In response to the immigration raid at Action Rags USA in Houston, I am also involved with the Houston Raid Rapid Response Team. I have also been awarded the Texas Progressive Alliance’s Silver Star by the Texas Progressive Alliance and the 40 under 40 Award by New Leaders Council; invited to appear on a public access cable TV talk show, GreenWatch TV, to talk about the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids and to appear on HITN TV’s Destination Casa Blanca 2008: The Latino Voice in the Presidential Election, with fellow blogamigios to discuss the impact Latino bloggers have on this year’s election; and I also invited to part of panel discussion at Netroots Nation to discuss online strategies for Latino bloggers. Finally, I was fortunate enough to go to Denver, with my fellow co-bloggers at Scholars and Rouges to cover the DNC. There are probably a lot more that occurred I did have forgotten to mention.

I don’t know if all this would have occurred if I was employed. Even though blogging has help keep my sanity, but being jobless still weighs on my mind. Because the holidays are coming around again, an emptiness is slowly creeping in again. It is a reminder something is missing in my life.

All I can do is hope this Christmas I am able to find a job offer in my stocking instead of a lump of coal I have found in the past three years.

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