Why might my fiance be having trouble finding work?

A week and a half ago, my fiance lost his job at a factory. They let go 5 people that they had hired in the past three months and he was one of them. He did nothing wrong, but they let him go. Since then, he’s been looking for more work.

I know it’s only been a week and a half, but he’s gone to every single place I could find in the industrial/manufacturing field in our area and only a handful were hiring. He’s already gotten turned down for two (maybe three) of these positions, and we’re having a hard time staying positive.

He’s trying to get on unemployment, but it’s taking longer than we expected. Luckily, I work and I’m able to help a little bit with bills, but it won’t always be that way. Even with his unemployment, he probably won’t be able to pay all of his bills and he’ll need my assistance. I’m willing to help, but I’m a college student and I really need to be saving my money as much as I can.

He’s never truly been turned down for a job. Before now, he’s landed every position he’s ever interviewed for. Now, he’s not getting any calls about the jobs he’s applying for and he’s even getting rejection emails from companies.

He laid hardwood floors for 5 years, worked in warehousing for about 2 years, is forklift certified, and then got 3 months of manufacturing/machinist experience at his most recent job. He’s an extremely hard worker and his resume is better than a lot of the ones I’ve seen. I just don’t get why we’re having such a hard time.

One job, for example, was a sales position at a car dealership. He even had a referral from an employee there. He called a couple of times to check on the status of the application, and then we find out today through the friend that works there that he was turned down for the job. They never even called him. A guy I work with applied for the same job yesterday and got a call back today. He doesn’t have sales experience either. I just don’t understand that.

I feel like we’re stuck. What if he doesn’t get another job? What if the only job he can get is some minimum wage position that won’t even pay his bills? What if we run out of money? What if we lose our place? All of these thoughts are constantly weighing me down and added to my work and school schedule, I don’t know where to turn.

I’m trying hard to keep my worries from him so he doesn’t get discouraged, but it’s hard. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.