WMBD/WYZZ TV – PEORIA -- National unemployment rates are rising. Here in Peoria, 1,900 people went to the Workforce Network to get help looking for a job.

Kimberly Brown spends a lot of her time searching for a job here at Workforce Network.

"The economy is pretty bad, I'm finding they're just not hiring people."

Brown is a nursing student with loans. She's also is a single parent trying to pay the bills.

"It's making things tight telling my son no, he's nine years old, no we're not going to the park today, mom's got to find a job."

Like many people looking for work, the line she's throwing out there to potential employers is coming back empty.

Workforce Network Director Bruce Marston says health care positions are still in high demand.

"The other industries in the area facing growth are logistics and some information technology out there."

What you won't find are assembly line jobs...directors say, most have been outsourced overseas.

If you're searching for a job the networks resource center has thousands of jobs available in the click of a mouse, many of them local. It's a resource Brown is putting to good use as she tries to turn her financial situation around.

Brown says, "Right now I’m not working waiting for schooling to start, and I'm living pay check to pay check."

A new lifestyle many Americans can relate with. The Workforce Network had to lay off 12 of their own employees. They usually get funding every time there's a lay off of 50 people or more. They've seen seven large lay offs this year, and haven't gotten any additional funding.