New York Times: Job Centers See Crush of People in Need

"At a one-stop career center, candidates are feverishly applying for two months of temporary work with United Parcel Service. The pay was $8.50 [£5.60] an hour. There were 150 slots, and more than 300 applicants. A few years ago, these people were working. Now, with the nation’s jobless claims at a 16-year high, they are among the 20 million people expected to use federal workforce services in 2008, up from 14 million in 2005. Economists say the full impact is easy for lawmakers to miss. Many people apply for unemployment through the Internet, cutting down on actual lines. And those most in need are largely invisible - unskilled, less educated and disproportionately black or from immigrant communities."