The moribund numbers came as no surprise to Lester and Nancy Miller. After losing their sales positions, the Boca Raton couple have searched fruitlessly for work, applying for hundreds of positions. Nancy Miller calls herself a "99er," the nickname for workers who have exhausted their 99 weeks of unemployment benefits.

Even as she spends 40 to 55 hours a week looking for work, she's founded a swelling national grass-roots movement to aid people like her: the so-called 99ers. Named for the maximum number of weeks the jobless can now collect unemployment insurance (UI), these long-term jobless are clamoring for faster job creation and extended jobless benefits.

Tom's a 99er and I don't know how much longer he'll be able to pay his bills if he does not get a job or some help.