[Crystal] Thompson made $18 an hour as a senior account executive at Daniel Island giftware manufacturer Davis & Small until March, and the 36-year-old single mother hasn\u2019t been able to find suitable replacement work since.<\/p>\n
She said she would simply work two jobs if she didn\u2019t have children, but since she has to support her girls, she figures she needs to be paid at least $14 an hour.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s so many people who are unemployed that they\u2019re all going for the same jobs,\u201d\u009d she said.<\/p>\n
Thompson already moved in with her mother to save money, even though \u201cit\u2019s not emotionally healthy for me and my children.\u201d\u009d And if no one hires her this month, it\u2019s about to get rougher.
Thompson is one of 29,000 South Carolinians who will lose their federal unemployment benefits at the end of the year.<\/p>\n
After several extensions of the federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation program to help out-of-work Americans ride out the recession the past few years, it\u2019s over. Congress passed the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 in February, which cut off the benefits by Jan. 3, 2013.<\/p>\n