Good advice from MarketWatch about a growing issue:

Given the state of the labor market right now, just about everybody knows someone who has lost a job. One's first instinct often is to offer help, maybe some form of financial aid. But think twice before going that route. As Ruth Mantell describes in her Diary of a Recession Baby column today, sometimes offers of help do more harm than good. For tips on how to handle a layoff when it hits a relative or a friend, read her story.

-- Andrea Coombes , Personal Finance editor

Here's the full column.