MEMPHIS, TN – New numbers from the Department of Labor show that unemployment is still going up. The national unemployment rate reached 10.2 percent in October. The latest figures from Tennessee show a 10.5 percent unemployment rate. That number drops to 9.2 percent in Mississippi, and 7.1 percent in Arkansas.
Tanya Canady has been job-hunting in Memphis since May.
“I used to work for Hilton in their corporate offices in their IT department," she said. "I worked 15 years for that company, 20 years in the same type of field." But 20 years of experience hasn't led to a full-time job yet.
“We went from a four-bedroom, possibly five-bedroom house, with an unfinished bonus room to a nice three bedroom 2-bath to 'hmm, what are we going to do now?’” Canady said.
That's the question more and more people are asking as they find themselves out of work.
“We find more and more applicants are willing to accept temporary jobs than they have been in the past,” said Gail Taylor, office manager at a career services center of the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
But she said even temporary or seasonal jobs are harder to find.
"In the past in October, November, December we have had retailers to call us and say ‘I need to hire 20, 30, 40 people,’” Taylor said. “We're not seeing that at all.”
Canady said she's looking for temporary work too.
“I haven't given up hope,” she said. “It’s just hard right now."
But Taylor has some advice for people who are still looking for a job.
“We simply tell them do not give up hope, to come in and check with us,” she said. “We're going to assist them the best way that we can."
Those numbers from the Department of Labor also show that nine million people are working part-time. That's either because their hours have been cut or they can't find a full-time job.
