As Christmas approaches, William Ferebee has just two months left on his unemployment benefits, and he says he doesn't know what he'll do when they run out.

The jobless graphic designer receives a check from the state for slightly more than $200 every two weeks, he said. The donated bread he picks up from a local senior center helps, as do the canned goods they give him every two weeks. The divorced father of two teenagers manages to pay the mortgage on his Temecula home by renting out rooms to four people, he added.

But at Christmas time, the struggle gets more painful. The depression increases, as his thoughts turn to his family, said Ferebee, 55.

"I hope my ex-wife will invite me over for Christmas morning," he said.

Not that he'll be able to afford gifts for her or his children.

His eyes welling up with tears, he takes out his wallet and removes all of his cash -- a single dollar bill.

"Christmas is giving, not receiving, and if you can't give, Christmas doesn't have much of a meaning," he said.

Unemployment rises

November's unemployment statistics show that 39.1 percent of those without jobs in California have been receiving jobless benefits for 15 weeks or longer. That number has grown significantly in the past three years. In November 2002, it stood at 35 percent, and in November 2001, it was 25.5 percent.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced last month that long-term unemployment had reached its highest level in two decades, with more than 2 million people out of work across the nation for six months or longer.

And for many of the employed, things are about to get even tougher. In California, unemployment benefits last for 26 weeks, with a 13-week extension possible. But starting today, the jobless will no longer be entitled to the 13-week extension, after Congress' failure earlier this month to approve a continuation of the extra money.

As the numbers of long-term unemployed increase and some max out their benefits, depression, desperation and family problems intensify as well, according to local family therapist Charles La Vorgna.

In November, 51,677 people in the state and 2,202 people in Riverside County exhausted their unemployment benefits, a Sacramento spokesman for state Employment Development Department said last week. Once people's benefits end, they drop off the government's rolls.

Upwards of 50 percent of the people receiving unemployment benefits through the Employment Development office in Temecula have been doing so for 16 weeks or longer, said Cheri Hales, an employment program representative in the Temecula office.

Making things even worse this year is that local retailers are hiring fewer people for the temporary holiday jobs usually available in December, she said.

"A lot of (the unemployed) feel nobody is hiring right now, so what's the use?" Hales said.

And while slimmer-than-usual job prospects are a factor in the drop off in clients this year, depression is, too, she said. In her job-counseling role, she gets to know a lot of her clients fairly well, she added.

"Sometimes, they get depressed during the holidays and stop coming in," she said, adding that she believes their depression is sometimes driven by not having the money to buy presents for family members, as the jobless face the dilemma of stretching meager dollars.

"Do you put food on the table, pay the electric bill, or buy your kid a present?" Hales asked. "Nobody should have to make that kind of decision in this country; there is enough for everybody to go around."

Depression takes its toll

Therapist La Vorgna said last week that he has treated many people over the years for unemployment-related depression.

When people are unemployed for long periods of time, for some the first symptom is anger, he said. Depression soon follows, as their plight begins to eat away at their self-esteem.

"If Dad loses faith in himself, the wife (often) loses faith in him," La Vorgna said. "It can shake the very foundations of marriage and lead to separation and divorce. I have seen it many times."

Ferebee said he believes that being unemployed led to his divorce.

"My wife got tired of seeing me sitting around," said Ferebee, who graduated from Penn State with a degree in graphic design, a field he worked in for 30 years before losing his job about two years ago.

"If I was gainfully employed, I doubt I would be divorced right now," he said.

The downward spiral often ends up making it even harder to find a job, as people project their lack of energy and low self-esteem during job interviews, La Vorgna said. The result: a thank you and a promise to contact the job candidate at a later date -- a contact that never comes, he added.

"And that takes him down even further," La Vorgna said.

Michael Hamrin, 59, said last week he doesn't know if losing his high-paying job as a regional manager for the Siemens Corp. was the reason for the breakup of his 14-year marriage. But he wonders.

"My wife left with my kids in the same week I lost my cushy Siemens job," he said, adding that December is anything but a merry time of year for him.

"I hate the holidays; I won't go to the mall -- it just reminds me of the family I once had," said the Murrieta resident.

A victim of corporate downsizing, he lost the last full-time job he had in the telecommunications field about three years ago, he said. His unemployment benefits ran out about a year and a half ago, and he has survived since then by doing free-lance consulting work, earning an average monthly income of less than $1,000, he said.

Hamrin said he recently spent three months working as a volunteer with Experience Unlimited, an Employment Development Department office that assists out-of-work professionals, helping them find new jobs. The men and women who seek help through the office often are looking for more than just job leads, Hamrin said. Many see the office as a psychological support resource -- a place they can go and receive encouragement in their struggle to find a new job.

As a volunteer with Experience Unlimited, Hamrin got to know the stories of as many as 500 different unemployed professionals, he said. And for some, even the support of others just wasn't enough.

"There's a lot of tragedy out there -- divorces, foreclosures," he said. "A lot of them have given up. They just stopped coming."

But Hamrin said he is optimistic about his own prospects for finding another job.

"I am intelligent and likable; I think someone will find me," said the man, who has done postgraduate work at both Harvard and Stanford universities.

Ferebee and Hamrin have conflicting opinions on Congress' failure to approve an extension on unemployment benefits.

Hamrin thinks Congress made a wise decision.

"I believe benefits weaken a person," he said. "It takes away your drive and initiative. People on unemployment are not as eager to go out there and participate."

He said he has honed his survival skills to a fine edge during the time he has been out of work. He rents a room in Murrieta, he said, and his diet consists of the grains and vegetables he buys in bulk.

"I am the world's greatest food magician," he said. "I once lived for one whole month without a penny, by (stocking up on) bulk food and freezing. I didn't experience fear."

Ferebee, meanwhile, says he is frustrated that Congress didn't continue the extension.

"It was a piece of hope; there are thousands of people like me out there," he said.

Contact staff writer William Finn Bennett at (909) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or wbennett@californian.com.