Quoted in The Wall Street Journal

So after 50 weeks of unemployment, here's my 15 minutes of fame. The Wall Street Journal quoted me for a story today in its online edition about the unemployed working for the Census Bureau. My prose was buried in the bottom of the story, but it certainly seemed like the least worrisome out of the three tales. Click on the headline to read the entire story, or check out my section below.

Census jobs end all too soon

By Joe Light and Justin Lahart
The Wall Street Journal
June 4, 2010

Since losing his job as a newspaper reporter last June, South Fayette, Pa., resident Michael Jones, 26, has landed interviews with only three companies and hasn't yet received an offer. Last November, Mr. Jones read an ad for census jobs and took the qualifying test on the Monday after Thanksgiving, earning a perfect score. In early March of this year, he got the call letting him know that he had been hired as an enumerator, at $15.25 an hour.

"If I hadn't gotten that job and my unemployment benefits ran out, I'd have to take drastic measures," Mr. Jones said. "The first day of work, I couldn't wait to drive to training. It had been so long since I had a 9-to-5 workday."

Mr. Jones's census job is scheduled to end in mid-July, depending on how quickly his team finishes its work. If Congress doesn't extend unemployment benefits again, his benefits will run out in mid-August. If that happens, and Mr. Jones still hasn't found a full-time job, he plans to start looking at jobs driving train crews around for a railroad company or working in retail.