If you're single, you're 50% more likely to lose your job, according to a study published Friday by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. This is no different from most recessions, but neither the stat nor the trend loses its shock value with each downturn. Now that the unemployment rate has edged higher, to 9.8% last month, the plight of singles is worsening.

Single employment fell 4.8% from December 2007 through June, with the married folks losing their jobs at a rate of only 3.1%. In August, the single jobless rate reached 13.5%, while those encumbered with spouses fared much better at 6.3%.

I read somewhere today that Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) Personals is the number one dating service on the Internet. They say it's lonely at the top, but apparently singles using the site have been successful in quelling their loneliness -- just when I was certain that that internet dating stuff was bogus ...

Rivaled by Match.com, the Hoo's in Yahooville are working industriously to stay one step ahead of the game. They've recently added a new feature called "Quick View", which allows the user to scan for potential mates more quickly and efficiently. They are afforded the ability to mark off characteristics, (i.e., smoker, non-smoker) as "breaker" or "maker", this way any received profiles with 'breaker" traits will be labeled as such. And it's likely that the "breaker" will be discarded by the user - "Layta!". Sounds like a good deal, right? Quick, convenient, and it saves precious time. I don't think so. (Note: if you don't have the time to really get to know and evaluate a person, how will you have time for a relationship?)

First of all the whole idea of a first impression being based on a profile (a Quick View) -- mere words and check offs -- is whack. You can hardly trust people in person, let alone on paper.