Unemployment claims for the week ending Jan. 29 numbered 238,000, lower than the 245,000 projected by Dow Jones. Claims briefly dropped below 200,000 in early December but have stayed above that level since.

The private education sector experienced the highest quit rate last year, hitting 148%, while quit rates for state and local education reached 40%, according to federal data. Former teachers talk in this article about why they left the sector, their experience of looking for different work and the companies that have been eager to hire them.

An Urban Institute analysis found up to 15 million Americans, including 6 million children, could lose their Medicaid health insurance once the COVID-19 public health emergency ends and states must redetermine eligibility, and some state officials say they might not have enough time or resources to guide people to new coverage. To help address the problem, state officials are calling on lawmakers to set a date for when the public health emergency will end and to provide more money for the effort.

Success can become a trap if you're measuring your goals by other people's standards and never feel satisfied, writes Rich Litvin. "You know you're using someone else's metrics when you hit a big goal, [only] to discover how empty you feel on the other side," Litvin writes.

An administrative runaround and unclear policies made it difficult for David BenMoshe to enroll in a four-year college after 30 months in prison, but BenMoshe finally earned his degree as a straight-A student. In this commentary, BenMoshe explains how the deck seemed stacked against him when next applying to graduate school -- including a security guard escorting him off campus during orientation and a secondary application process required only for former criminals. BenMoshe, now a writer and graduate student at New York University, says that at least in prison, "you know what you did and when [your punishment] will end."

I attended a media briefing at SHRM’s annual conference in 2018. Newly installed SHRM President and CEO Johnny C. Taylor was meeting with reporters to talk about several issues, including second-chance programs. He pulled no punches when he talked about the need to eliminate the barriers that keep more former offenders from entering the workforce.

“If you’ve been sentenced, and you serve that sentence, and you’re out, it shouldn’t be that you’re resentenced every day for the rest of your life; we just don’t believe that,” Taylor said.

I thought of those words as I read today’s Workplace Chatter story about former felon David BenMoshe’s struggle to get a college degree. He ran into hurdle after hurdle as he pursued his undergraduate and then graduate degree. He had trouble registering for classes. He was escorted off campus after staffers discovered he had a criminal record. He got accepted to the University of Florida’s graduate school but was later rejected after the college’s board reviewed his application and saw his past criminal behavior.

What a sucker punch. BenMoshe didn’t hide his record. He was honest with every school. But they wouldn’t let go of his past. Their policies and practices continued to shackle him.

Starting over is a battle. And actions have consequences – I get it. But if we don’t find ways to remove the barriers keeping people from legitimate work and education, our communities and economies will suffer. It’s just that simple.

Talk to me. What do you think? I appreciate your thoughts.