Expert fears jobless rate will grow

NORFOLK, VA - Ten point two is only a number until you hear the stories it represents.

"I was actually terminated in February of this year," one woman said. "I got unemployed a couple months ago," another added. "I had a full time job doing government contracting, lost the contract and I was laid off," a third told WAVY.com Friday.

The jobless rate in America is the highest it's been in a quarter-century. Unemployment offices are as busy as streets with people trying to navigate through the numbers.

"I'm trying to keep my options open, not be too picky, but it's difficult," Angela Lowrance said. "I apply for five jobs a day: even jobs I'm over qualified for and I still haven't found anything," Cody Sokoloff sighed.

Experts fear a flatline to the rising rate could still be at a distance. "I would not be surprised if our unemployment numbers reach 11 percent before it levels out," Tidewater Community College Business and Economics Professor Peter Shaw told WAVY.com.

If there is good news to find in the figures, Shaw thinks it's in Franklin. That's where people at the International Paper mill, who already know they'll be laid off next year, have time now to plan their way around the future roadblock by sharpening skills and obtaining new ones.

"Were noticing the greatest fatalities in the employment area are the people with the lowest skills. They're the ones who get hit first and hit the hardest and it's more difficult for them to find another job," Shaw said.

It's a frustration felt by many. "When I look for jobs, they're looking for 5-8 years of experience; how am I supposed to get that experience if no one will give me a chance," Sokoloff asked.

To that, there may be no easy answer. Only patience fueled by persistence.

"You don't have to be a rocket scientist to realize that having greater skills and capabilities is going to be the ticket to your success in the economy - period," Shaw said.

Shaw fears the jobless rate may not stabilize until 2010.