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SANDY — Many Utahns already feeling the sting of unemployment said they are now dealing with the fact that they’ll be out of work even longer, expressing worry and frustration over losing their jobs.
Most people said they understand why Salt Lake County extended the “Stay-At-Home” order, and even support it.
“It’s about now that I’m feeling like, ‘oh you know what, time to tighten the belt,'” said Annie Palmer, a single mom who lost both of her jobs a couple weeks ago.
Palmer worked at a med spa and as a dental hygienist. She said she does qualify for unemployment, but it’s not enough to cover all her expenses.
“Unemployment is not even going to cover like 50% of what my income would be,” she said.
Then there’s Lyman Winn, a commercial photographer who has had a hard time getting state and federal help because he’s self-employed.
“I’ve had to refund over $18,000 worth of clients who were scheduled to shoot,” said Winn.
With no clients and no money, he said he’s already worried about how he’ll pay rent on his studio.
“It’s a decent payment to make every month when you have zero income coming in,” said Winn.
Winn said he is supportive of the “Stay-At-Home” order, but not knowing how long it will last, makes him very nervous.
“The problem is, the longer we keep pushing out, this is when businesses are going to go under,” said Winn. “Because if you’re not going to get money until June, it’s going to put a lot of us out of work.”
Two very different professions with the same exact problem. How are they going to pay their bills?
Palmer is trying to stay positive, adding that she has a savings account that she hopes will get her through the next few months.
“I have chosen to have the ‘it’s all going to work out’ perspective,” she said.
Winn said he’s hoping for the best as well, but he might have to prepare for the worst.
“I’ve been doing this for 10 years,” he said. “I’m starting to think is it time for me to have a career change.”
Many other people said they could relate to these two stories as more than 33,000 Utahns filed for unemployment last week.
