Bad news for North Carolina as the unemployment rate hit a new high. It's now 11.1 percent.

Forty-four year-old Russell Early is part of those new state numbers. This part-time pastor says he was laid off from his job at Wal-Mart.

Early says, " I think God has a job out there for me and believe in God that it will open soon for me."

Monica Hernandez says she and her friend have been searching for work for two years. She says things are finally looking up. "We found success doing housekeeping work at Kitty Hawk. We got opportunities and we're gonna call them and apply in person."

The Dean of ECU's College of Business, Frederick Niswander, says the high unemployment numbers are expected in times like this. "We are not out of the woods yet but we're moving in the right direction. The unemployment rate has been rising for the past 10 months and will probably do it for another six months then tapper off."

Tapering off and getting work sounds good for people like Earley and Hernandez.