The question is while many large companies are sitting on a lot of cash, why aren't they hiring?
"The job market is horrifying right now," said Nancy Hoffman, a job seeker.
Eyewitness News found Nancy Hoffman outside of a state unemployment office in /*Hicksville*/.
Every day she spends several hours searching for a job.
So far, it's been fruitless, and she has 27 years of sales experience.
"I've done chemical, I've done real estate, I've done mortgages, I've done home improvement I've done chimneys, I can't find anything in any of these fields," Hoffman said.
Across the country there are a million stories just like Nancy's.
Stories of hard-working Americans who've found the job market has simply passed them by.
Even before this week's dreadful financial news, the recovery has offered little in the way of work, for the recently unemployed.
"This is going to be a permanent condition in our labor market," said Pearl Kamer, an economist.
Economist Pearl Kamer doesn't think the nation is heading back into a recession, but she says the so-called "jobless recovery" will continue.
Employers are laying off workers, she says, only to learn they're better off without them.
"They got the same amount of productivity, even more productivity in some cases. It's simply good business sense to protect your bottom line where you can. And labor costs are the biggest charge against the bottom line," Kamer said.
And when it comes to retailers, Kamer says those businesses continue to sit on their cash, refusing to hire workers until consumer demand returns.
But, that's unlikely until those consumers find jobs, a crisis of confidence throughout the system, Nancy Hoffman fears will keep her out of work.
"I think it's ridiculous because if they invest they get more people who can utilize and grow and expand their company and their sales and their profits, they shouldn't be holding back because it could be making them more money," Hoffman said.