General Motors Flint auto¹ worker Donald Kemp joins other demonstrators outside the Renaissance² Center and General Motors headquarters in Detroit, Michigan June 16, 2009.

Nearly a quarter of US laid-off workers are relying mostly on unemployment benefits or financial aid, and almost as many are cutting back spending to get by, according to research released Wednesday.

Asked to list their primary means of making ends meet, a sixth said they are using savings³ and a fifth said they are relying on a spouse⁴ or partner to support the household, according to a survey of unemployed⁵ workers by CareerBuilder.com, an online jobs site.

The most common answer was unemployment benefits, at 23 percent, and cutting back spending to just necessities, at 20 percent, it said.

Six percent said they sold some belongings⁶, 5 percent are taking odd jobs, 4 percent are living on credit and 3 percent moved home or added a roommate.

Roughly 14.5 million people were unemployed in the United States as of May, according to government statistics. Since the start of the recession in December 2007, that figure has risen by 7 million people, according to the US Bureau of Labor⁷ Statistics.

The US unemployment rate climbed in May to a 26-year high of 9.4 percent.

Asked how they are using their time, 22 percent said they are spending time with family and friends, 15 percent are fixing up their homes and 14 percent are exercising more, the survey said.

Laid-off workers also listed relaxing, volunteering, returning to school and becoming more involved with their church community, it said.

The online survey was conducted among more than 1,800 laid-off US workers from June 10 to June 15. The results had a margin⁸ of error of plus or minus 3.2 percentage points.

据本周三公布的一项研究结果显示，美国近四分之一的失业者主要靠失业救济或财政援助生活，另有约有四分之一失业者正在削减家庭开支渡过难关。

在线求职网站CareerBuilder.com在对失业者进行了一项调查，要求他们详细列出维持家庭收支平衡的基本途径，其中六分之一受访者称在动用积蓄，有五分之一称依赖配偶或伴侣养家糊口。

调查显示，最常见的回答就是领失业救济，占23%，有20%的人削减开支，只购买生活必需品。

有6%受访者卖掉部分家产，5%打零工，4%借债，3%搬家或增加一位室友。

据美国政府公布数据显示，截至5月份美国失业人数约为1450万人。据美国劳工部统计数据，自2007年12月开始经济衰退以来，美国失业人口已增加了700万人。

美国失业率在5月攀升至26年来最高的9.4%。

在问到他们如何打发时间时，22%的受访者称陪伴家人和朋友，15%者装修房屋，14%者增加锻炼时间。

失业者的活动还包括休闲、做义工、回学校读书，以及参与教会活动等。

这项网络调查在6月10日至15日进行，有1800多名失业者参与。调查结果的误差为正负3.2个百分点之间。