Got a raise... while unemployed

I finally got a raise... my first raise in 2+ years. It came through the unemployment insurance check courtesy the Federal Additional Compensation Program. There in lies the irony. Ever since I started working for a startup in the fall of 2006 I had not gotten a raise. In fall of 2007 I was told that they were putting a formal evaluation and pay cycle scheduled to go into effect in Feb 2008 and all adjustments would happen then. Come Feb 2008 I was told that the company has not met its goals so while they would like to give me a raise they can't. There was no official communication. My manager kept the discussion about it alive till June of 2008. Then, I realized that this was never going to happen.