If you’re unemployed at the moment, we don’t have to tell you that the situation out there is pretty grim. But you’re not alone: The Senate passed a bill last week extending unemployment benefits for people who find themselves jobless for up to 99 weeks. However, with an unemployment rate hovering around 9.5 percent, there simply are not as many jobs as people looking for work.

Whether you’re among the jobless ranks or simply want to take precautions, here are a few tips for ways to stay afloat in troubled waters.

1. Keep your credit score high. Now is not the time to limit your lending options with a bad credit score. Make every effort to pay your bills on time, and if you can’t, try to work with lenders to negotiate payment plans before the account goes to collections.
2. Sell your clutter. Sentimentality can be a financial thorn in your side if you hold on to your valuables longer than necessary. If you haven’t touched that bass guitar since college or your wedding dress is just going to yellow in the back of your closet, sell your stuff on Craigslist for instant cash.
3. Use free services to fine tune your job search. Even if you graduated from college years ago, check with your school’s career-counseling office to see if they offer free resume tweaking for alumni. And tap into the university job network, which will put you in touch with fellow alums.
4. Go back to school. If you’ve ever had an interest in continuing your education, now’s the time to pursue that advanced degree. Interest rates are at historic lows, and the new degree could give you an edge in the job market after you graduate. Just make sure you’re not taking on more debt for a degree that won’t ultimately increase your earning potential.
5. Keep in touch with your ex-employer. If you were laid off, there’s a chance that your old company could use your services on a contract basis. It may not offer benefits, but it’s still a paycheck. Even if they don’t have work for you, it’s always a good idea to keep up contact for future references.

Researchers at Northwestern and the University of Chicago are publishing their findings in an upcoming issue of Economic Sciences:

“Higher-testosterone women are more prone to take risk, and this attitude is correlated with riskier career choices,” says Paola Sapienza, associate professor at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and co-author of the study with Luigi Zingales of the University of Chicago.

Those risks sometimes translate to higher pay but also higher rates of unemployment, the study says.

The difference was not due strictly to gender, either. The 90 percent of women and 31 percent of men measured with low testosterone levels were equal in their risk-aversion. And in terms of solvency, the differences between the sexes were negligible: Surveys indicate that 10 percent of men and 11 percent of women report having filed for bankruptcy at some point in their lives.

But if you’re chock full of testosterone and itching to, say, use your savings to play the lottery, try to keep your impulses in check and put your money somewhere a little safer.

It’s all doom and gloom, right?  Well not on all levels. While the news media focuses primarily on the negative, consider some of the positive secondary effects that come from being (f)unemployed (as some of my friends have taken to calling it). People now laid off can be employed to do other things.

Some are taking the opportunity to learn a new language. (Rosetta Stone is one of the few companies succeeding during this recession.)  Others are honing their skills by going back to school, learning a new trade, taking computer courses at the local community college.  And some will self start businesses. Some of America’s most successful businesses were founded during recessions.

And those who are still getting a paycheck?  People place greater value on their jobs and improve their overall work ethic, which in turn enhances the overall quality of the services provided.   Lower labor costs brought about by the recession, combined with higher productivity, translate into cost savings for businesses. These savings are passed on to consumers in the form of lower prices.  Businesses try to entice customers to spend, with sales and other deals. Consumers eventually respond.   Business by business, firm by firm, and industry by industry, better-than-expected-profits are posted. And eventually, businesses will begin expanding, lowering the unemployment rate all over again.

So while it’s true that the economy’s downturn has badly hurt many families, like anything in life it isn’t without certain silver linings. Small consolation to someone who’s lost their job or home, I know. But in times like these it doesn’t hurt to look for a few positives.