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President Obama's jobs bill proposes making being unemployed a protected status -- meaning it would be "an unlawful employment practice" to decide not to hire someone because he or she doesn't have a job, The New York Times' Robert Pear reports. That would put joblessness on par with race, color, religion, sex, and national origin, meaning job applicants who think they were shot down because they haven't had a job would be able to sue. Job ad websites would be banned from blocking the unemployed. (Some employers have posted ads warning, "no unemployed candidates will be considered.")
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