Monday is the last day for New Yorkers and New Jerseyans affected by Sandy to apply for federal Disaster Unemployment Assistance. 

Mayor Michael Bloomberg may be threatening to veto a bill banning discrimination against unemployed job seekers passed by the City Council on Wednesday, but Speaker Christine Quinn is issuing a challenge of her own: a veto override.

The City Council approved a bill Wednesday that would block employers from posting job listings that require prospective candidates to be employed in order to apply — but the mayor has vowed to veto it.

As a former prostitute searches for a job in today’s tough job climate, she is finding that job experience matters less to many employers than her three convictions.

It’s been more than a year since U.S. forces withdrew from Iraq, and for many veterans the last twelve months have been spent readjusting to life on the homefront. As 2012 draws to a close, veterans and the groups and agencies that support them are taking a look at the progress of the past year, and what else still needs to be done in the coming year, to help service men and women returning home from war.

When Sandy closed down corporate offices in Lower Manhattan and destroyed hundreds of businesses in neighborhoods and towns across the five boroughs, 29,100 workers in New York state lost their jobs, the state Department of Labor said.

Today, the Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its final unemployment report in advance of the 2012 election on Tuesday, November 6. Charlie Herman, business and economics editor for Takeaway co-producer WNYC, and Todd Zwillich, The Takeaway's Washington correspondent, explain the October numbers and what they mean for election day.

After months of rising joblessness, the unemployment rate in New York and New Jersey is starting to fall.

The government reported Thursday that New York City’s unemployment rate declined slightly, to 9.9 percent in August. But the good news belies a troubling trend: while New York City is gaining jobs quickly, unemployment remains high — higher than it was in the worst days of the recession in 2009.

WNYC asked Longform to pick great stories as background reading for our 30 Issues in 30 Days series. These are stories that help illuminate and humanize the important issues this election year. Part One of 30 Issues looks at unemployment, manufacturing, the future of education, and the victims of the great recession.

For daily picks of new and classic nonfiction, check out Longform or follow @longform on Twitter. Have an iPad? Download Longform’s app to read the latest picks.

New Jersey's unemployment rate jumped from 9.6 to 9.8 percent in July, a level not seen since the 1970s according to the state's Department of Labor. The latest number is being used by Democrats to counter Gov. Chris Christie's claim the state is on a "comeback."

New Jersey’s unemployment rate remains stubbornly higher than the national average, but the situation is even bleaker in some counties in the state’s northern and southern ends.

New York's unemployment rate went up last month, despite more jobs being added. Anjali Athavaley, New York economics reporter for The Wall Street Journal, looks at the theories behind the seemingly contradictory reports.

Director Marc Levin talks about his film "Hard Times: Lost on Long Island" and what he learned about families facing long-term unemployment.

→ Tune In: Hard Times premieres Monday, July 9th at 9pm on HBO

Black unemployment is 14.4% and rose a full point in June. Kai Wright, editorial director of Colorlines and Nation contributor, discusses the presidential contest and the latest unemployment figures —particularly as those numbers vary by race.

James Kunen chronicles his adventures on the road to finding meaning in work and life. His memoir Diary of a Company Man: Losing a Job, Finding a Life is the story of a 1960s radical turned corporate PR man who finds himself, along with his fellow baby boomers, in a place he calls “too young to retire and too old to hire.”

Peter Cappelli, professor of management at The Wharton School and director of Wharton's Center for Human Resources, workforce issues columnist for Human Resource Executive Online, and author of Why Good People Can't Get Jobs:The Skills Gap and What Companies Can Do About It, talks about the implications of  changes in US employment relations as they are presented in his new book.

Sally Koslow discusses "adultescents" and looks at why many in the current generation’s unwillingness—or inability—to leave home and become fully independent adults. In Slouching Toward Adulthood: Observations from the Not-So-Empty Nest, she includes the latest research, interviews frustrated parents and their frustrated offspring, and writes of her own experiences with her grown children.

Join the conversation! Share your experiences—as a parent or as an adult living at home—by leaving a comment or by calling us at 212-433-9692.

Today, fewer than three in ten American teenagers are able to find summer jobs. These figures have fallen off particularly quickly since 2000, and the number of 16- to 19-year-olds at work is at its lowest since World War II. Older workers, immigrants, and young college grads are now taking the low-level work formerly filled by America’s teenagers, and economists have suggested that this change might be permanent.