The LookoutLong-term unemployed? Share your story with Yahoo News
A sign attracts job-seekers during a job fair at the Marriott Hotel in Colonie, N.Y., in October. (Mike Groll/AP)
Unemployment numbers only tell one side of the story:
• Nationwide unemployment sits at 7.9 percent
• 2 million unemployed workers could lose jobless benefits should the country hit the looming "fiscal cliff"
• In 2012, average hourly pay has risen just 1.6 percent—short of inflation's 2 percent rise
• 5 million Americans are considered long-term unemployed, meaning they've been without work for more than 27 weeks
But it's the personal stories of unemployed Americans that resonate and offer insight into how joblessness affects us. To understand how unemployment truly impacts everyday citizens, Yahoo News is asking unemployed workers, or those who consider themselves severely underemployed, to share their stories of looking for work.
If you are currently unemployed and are looking for work in your career field, we'd like to hear from you.
Here's how:
At Yahoo! Contributor Network, we're inviting readers to write—in their own words—their own story of unemployment and job-hunting.
In these stories, we're asking long-term unemployed Americans to provide a colorful and detailed look at their journey. The best stories will be part of a project that examines, on a personal level, what it's like to be without a job.
