Being unemployed is not easy.
If you work in high tech industry, don't expect to find job easily. Most jobs in this sector are sent either to India or China. People who are unemployed in this area for a long time get discourage easily since 100 to 500 people are applying for one single job, and employers or technical recruiters are picky. Changing career is one of the best way to go, like going in health care industry. I know some engineers and programmers took vocational nursing classes, and some are now working as LPN.
I lost my job more than 2 years ago, and no luck. Started my own corporation 3 times and failed twice. The third try worked for me and never been happy being your own boss.