Unemployment Fills Adult Learner Classes

The national unemployment rate is now 9.8%. There’s no telling how New Hampshire will measure up. We have to wait another ten days or so for state level data -- although chances are, the news won’t be great.

The people who coordinate adult learning programs around the state are no strangers to seeing the fallout of this recession. They’ve been seeing more students, especially older ones, walk through their doors for several months. As Ginny Arsenault with Pemi-Baker Literacy in Plymouth tells it, sometimes it’s more like a rush to get in the door.

CUT: They are coming in almost in a frenzy to get this GED that they never thought they'd need to survive.

In Hillsborough, Judy Fournier with Adult Learner Services, says they’re seeing more homeless people, people doubling and tripling up to live with the one family member or friend who has a part-time job. It doesn’t help that Hillsborough is about equally far from Keene and Concord – places that offer both work and help in finding work.

CUT: Lot of our students don’t have transportation, they don’t have jobs. Even the employment security offices for these folks are 4-50 minutes away.

The employment picture can take some unpredictable turns. Debby Liskow with the Adult Education program in Dover says yes, they have more students …

CUT: … and yet at the same time, I have students who are working two jobs and can’t come to class. I also have some tutors who are volunteering because they are out of work, so why not be volunteering.

Everyone agrees that a better education gets you a better job but from Derry, we get a very odd twist on that story. Kathy Mercer with Adult Learner Services of Greater Derry has a 52-year old student. He was laid off from a firm where he spent years as a financial professional.

CUT: He comes in when companies are in trouble and to fix them financially. He sort of gets the bottom line straightened out.

Here’s the twist. This man had never graduated from high school. The good news is, he has a job offer. But he can’t start until he gets his GED. Mercer says he’s in one heck of a rush.

In other news, the stimulus package offered billions for high-speed rail but New Hampshire won’t be applying. State officials say the owners of the tracks aren’t interested in playing along.

With this round up of the economic news, I’m Jon Greenberg.