An "acceptable" level of unemployment means that the government economist to whom it is acceptable still has a job

"You're fired!" No other words can so easily and succinctly reduce a confident, self-assured executive to an insecure, groveling shred of his former self.

Handled creatively, getting fired allows an executive to actually experience a sense of relief that he never wanted the job he has lost.

The fact that the unemployment rate has reached a historic low is a tribute to both the public and private sectors of our community for providing employment opportunities for all of our residents. The low unemployment rate is also evidence of the continued diversification of Miami-Dade's economy.

In the past 12 months we have seen continued and steady decrease in unemployment under Gov. Matt Blunt, and as a result, Missouri's revenue and budget outlook also is significantly improved.

I was on the dole for a very short time, for about two weeks. I didn’t want to be lining up in the dole office. I hated that place, didn’t want nothing to do with it. I didn’t feel I belonged there. The two times I turned up, I bitterly resented it and I swore I’d never go back there. I really didn’t like the whole format of it, or the institutionalization it entailed, or the way they make you feel somehow guilty about it all. That’s your right – you’ve worked, or your parents have worked. If the state can’t provide jobs, then what the fuck are you supposed to do? In many ways I completely understand people taking to illegal activities, because frankly there’s no other way to make any kind of money at all, or get yourself out of the dumps. For me, personally, I could never get involved with theft, I can’t do it.