ADVANCE FOR USE SUNDAY, FEB. 5, 2012 AND THEREAFTER - In this Jan. 27, 2012 photo, Ted Casper of Edgerton, Wis., stands for a photograph in a machine shop at Blackhawk Technical College in Janesville, Wis. Casper, 62, who was laid off in 2009 from a semitrailer plant, is getting his second degree at the college in hopes of going into business for himself. He initially thought he'd rebound quickly. He was a skilled tool-and-die maker and had never been unemployed for more than a few days. "I thought I'd spend a week filling out applications," Casper says, "and I'd spend my next week deciding which of the three or four jobs I would take." He soon discovered he had misjudged. "It was a real eye-opening experience,' he says. “I started looking for work and no one was looking back." (AP Photo/Andy Manis)