Nationally and locally, the numbers are soaring: The long-term unemployed are going into business for themselves as independent contractors, cobbling together brand-new, Brand You careers.
As Charles Russell, a Web application developer who was laid off by Yahoo in 2008, likes to put it, if no one else is hiring, you might as well hire yourself.
"I hear recruiters say that they're hearing more noises about hiring now," said Russell, 54, who lives in Citrus Heights. "I can't wait for the noise. I need an income now."
By December 2009, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of people who said they were self-employed specifically because they couldn't land full-time jobs had jumped to 1.2 million, more than double the pre-recession number.
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