Out of work, still

For 15 years he found steady work in what he calls the carriage trade, the building and renovation of expensive second homes in places like Watch Hill, Stonington, Groton Long Point, Fishers Island and Old Black Point.

When he collected his last paycheck, about this time last year, he was earning a little more than $1,000 a week as an accomplished carpenter. The contractor he worked for also paid for his family's health insurance coverage.

He's now collecting a little more than $400 in unemployment benefits. His wife is working two part-time retail jobs to keep up with the family's bills, including a mortgage and more than $400 a month to keep the health insurance going.

They're meeting their obligations in part by spending down a 401k retirement account, despite the steep early withdrawal penalties, but they are considering what might have to go next, in the event the unemployment checks finally run out.

One of the cars? The health insurance? Groceries?

He can't refinance their house, because without a job he would no longer qualify for a loan.

"I wake up every morning worrying about where the money is coming from, and I go to sleep worrying about it," he told me the day before Thanksgiving. "I am devastated by the fact it has taken this long to get back on my feet."

This unemployed carpenter will turn 54 next month. He lives in Mystic. He and his wife have one child, who is approaching college age.

He agreed to talk about his unemployment experiences with the understanding that he wouldn't be identified.

"I find the whole situation rather embarrassing," he told me, just one more sad aspect of his long plight.

He was more than willing to talk about it, though, because he thinks the public is unaware of the dire straits so many others like him find themselves in, their grasp on a middle-class life slipping away.

"I call it the recession depression, because it's recessed just below the surface," he said. "You may not see it, but it's real."

The job pool around here, he says, is dry in a way it never was before.

There are no easy-to-find entry-level jobs at Electric Boat any more. The casinos are not hiring. Displaced professionals are moving down the job ladder, taking even retail jobs, displacing others.

Even the old standbys for job hunters in the building trades, like working connections at the lumber yards, no longer produce. In fact, the big box stores have eliminated much of that culture.

"There was a time in this area when you could open The Day and find a carpenter job almost any day, any time of the year," he said. "It made you feel like you were in the right business."

This unemployed carpenter spends a lot of time on job listing Web sites. He applies to at least three or four job openings a week and usually never hears back from any of them. Occasionally, he's been told there were, say, 500 applicants for one job and he didn't get it.

The reliable and well-paying world of the carriage trade, the extravagant home building and renovations that went on in so many shoreline communities, already seems a long way away.

The only other lull like this came right after the Sept. 11 attacks, the carpenter recalls, but it didn't last that long.

The wealthy summer house owners, many tethered to Wall Street portfolios and bonuses, stopped ordering new projects last fall and the business abruptly came to a halt.

Some of them may have lost a lot of money, and others may be too worried about the economy to spend any.

He also wonders whether the wealthy might not be holding back, to hang a stalled economy around the neck of the current administration in Washington.

Both the carpenter and his wife met with their health providers to talk about what may happen next, in the event they lose their coverage.

His doctor prescribed a daily walk, to help reduce stress and keep the depression at bay, advice the carpenter took.

The family is looking at a holiday season on a tight budget. They are hoping for a quicker turnaround in the economy. The carpenter thinks he may eventually try to start his own business and solicit customers instead of trying to find a new employer.

But even this week he found some things to be thankful for.

"I have had way too much time to worry about it all," he said. "But if there is any upside I've had this time to connect with family and neighbors, to smell the roses in our yards."

This is the opinion of David Collins.