E.S. Bradley emptied her piggy bank in May.
That's when she lost the in-home daycare job at which she'd worked for 15 months. Luckily the 38-year-old had about $113 in coins in her piggy bank. That would pay the utilities for a few months, or put gas in her car to drive to interviews and the Tennessee Career Center- Knoxville for help with her job search.
"That lady and I have seen each other here four days in a row," said Bradley, 38, while working on job applications at the center. "Monday through Thursday, when I have the time and gas, I am down here. If you're looking for a job, you have to act like it is a job."
More than 18,120 people were unemployed in Knox County in July, according to the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Chris Cooper, 36, of Fountain City works on doors for a counter at Habitat for Humanity's Restore. He started working full-time in July after three and a half years of unemployment. However, people like Bradley might not be counted in the county's 7.5 percent unemployment rate because she isn't eligible to receive unemployment due to the nature of her daycare position.
Unemployment rates are estimates based on those who claim unemployment insurance and business and household surveys. They may not include those who have exhausted their benefits, aren't eligible for them or are underemployed.
Employees at the Career Center and Workforce Connections, which both provide job-hunting resources to anyone, have seen the optimism once held by job seekers turn to frustration and desperation over the past three years.
There are fewer unemployment insurance claims each month, but that doesn't mean people are finding jobs, said Windie Wilson, assistant director for Workforce Connections. They are bumping against the 13 or 26 weeks allowed for unemployment benefits or they've exhausted all federal extensions up to 99 weeks.
Jeff Hentschel, communications director with the state labor department, said the state receives about 6,000 new claims every week compared with 30,000 during the recession's peak in early 2009. Before the recession, the number was about 3,000.
He said the average time to find a job is double or triple what it was before the recession when it was only about 16 weeks.
Job seekers have exhausted their unemployment benefits, savings and retirement, and bills are still due, said Debbie Arthur, resource center coordinator for the Career Center.
"That's almost two years of unemployment," Arthur said. "That's a long time. When this started, people were more hopeful the economy would get better if they just could hang on. The economy is kind of depressing now."
The Career Center saw almost 2,100 visits in June. Though this is down from 2,500 visits in June 2010 and the 3,100 the year before, it is still more than the 1,500 in June 2007.
People might find temporary part-time work or short-term assignments, but they aren't finding decent paying, full-time jobs.
"They're keeping the wolf at bay for a little bit," Arthur said. "Whatever you can get. We ask them what they want and they usually say, 'Anything I can find.' "
A job, any job: Richard Lyke, 45, of Mechanicsville applied to any job he saw over his more than two years of unemployment.
Even though he has two years of college from The Citadel, eight years in the U.S. Army during which he worked on helicopters and had top-secret clearance, and owned his own business, Lyke said he couldn't even get a job at Taco Bell.