Aaron Steele said he doesn't know what will happen if he can't find a second part-time job. He has a wife and 7-year-old son to support. He has car payments to make.
The Carson City machinist recently had his full-time job cut to three days a week. His company doesn't get the orders it used to, he said.
Steele doesn't know when or if his hours will be cut again.
"Everything has gone to hell," he said.
"I'm struggling," Steele said Friday. "I don't know how I'm going to feed my family this week."
Steele is one of thousands of workers in Carson City hit hard by the slow economy.
The Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation reported Friday that the state's unemployment rate rose to 9.4 percent in January, the highest since August 1983.
Carson City's rate rose from 9.4 percent in December to 11.1 percent in January, the highest of any urban area in the state.
Brenda Sisk of Carson City said she's gone to Nevada JobConnect, a state job placement office, every day since December.
She lost her job as an administrative assistant in January 2008, got unemployment insurance, worked a job for almost minimum wage and started looking for work in December that could actually support her and her baby.
Sisk said she'd take any job offered to her now.
"It doesn't matter," she said.
Carson City has seen several job cuts in the last year. The city's largest manufacturer, Chromalloy Nevada, cut about 150 jobs in December. The city's largest private employer, Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center, cut 45 positions in January.
The Carson Nugget, one of the city's largest casinos, cut 135 jobs during the past year.
The city government has a hiring freeze on most positions since October 2007. The Legislature could make major cuts this year to programs in the state capital.
Many people in the past few months have applied at Manpower, but fewer jobs are available, said Mark Johnston, a staffing specialist with the temporary employment office.
Some companies that usually looked for temporary help have hiring freezes or have closed, he said. Johnston called this is the worst market he's seen in more than 10 years.
"Back in the day, if you had a pulse, we could get you a job," he said.
Capt. Erica Helton of The Salvation Army in Carson City said requests for help are up at least 25 percent compared to past years.
People need money for utilities, rent, transportation and food, she said. Many who have never needed help before call just to see what is available, she said.
"They don't even know where to begin," Helton said.
- Contact reporter Dave Frank at dfrank@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1212.