But the newly unemployed may not be what you'd expect.

Today's jobless Georgian is more likely to have a college degree than to have just a high school education. Today's unemployed are, more often than not, well educated, well experienced and out of work for months.

Working Overtime

As the state's jobless rate climbs, workers at the Georgia Department of Labor offices find themselves working extra.

"We've been getting a trickle effect of some of the closures coming in," says Theresa Austin, manager of the DOL office in the Toco Hills area of DeKalb County. Her office has handled business closures ranging from small companies and privately owned stores to the shut down of the General Motors plant in Doraville.

Austin's been doing her job for 13 years and has seen job cuts before. But this one is different because the kind of people losing their jobs are one you'd expect to be safe from the pink slip.

"We are getting customers that come in at high executive level, with degrees," she says. "Master's Degrees, Bachelor's Degrees. So from all walks of life."

Executives Looking for Work

You'd think Michelle Brown could find work.

"I have a Master's Degree and I do have some credits towards a PHD," she says. Yet she's been out of work for months.

"I've got a Bachelor's Degree from the University of Illinois," says Chaz Mitchell, who also hasn't worked in months. "I worked at Citizen's Trust Bank as a financial service manager and also as a residential loan officer."

Two executives with sterling resumes and solid educations, but they've lost their jobs and can't find another. Brown can't understand why.

"Between education, professional experience, practical experience and level of communication, it's mind boggling ," she says.

Brown worked as a controller at the Georgia World Congress Center before being laid off. If you had told her at that time that she'd still be out of work at the end of October, she'd have thought you were crazy.

"It's very frustrating," she says, "because, not only is it my story, it's a lot of others who have the same story."

Chaz Mitchell never thought this would happen to him. But it did. He thinks his experience might actually be a strike against him.

"Hiring a seasoned professional who may bring many skills and talents to the table is great," Mitchell says, "but the new employers does not know about the compatibility. Someone coming out of school with no experience is more likely, in some arenas, to be hired. Because a company can take that person with no experience, pay them less, and mold them."

Brown and Mitchell are out of work, but it's not from a lack of trying. He goes through the same routine as when he was employed, trying to keep himself as professional as possible for the next potential employer.

"I just have to get up everyday, put my shoes on, clean my nails and hit the bricks."

Brown is searching for a job everyday, but to no avail, yet.

"Last night, personally, I was up until 3 o'clock in the morning, on the internet," she says, "making contacts and sending out resumes. And that's pretty much a daily thing for me."

"I would love to work and there's no job I wouldn't take. I'm not above doing any job or any task," Brown says. She initially was looking for another executive job, but has since lowered the bar. "I can stick it out, but, at the end of the day, it's not going to put food on the table and it's not going to maintain my lifestyle."

The greatest concerns for the newly unemployed during America's money crisis are how to pay the mortgage, or for the car, or how to feed their families.

"How do you manage with the unemployment benefits that you're getting weekly and still make that house payment?" Austin says. For that, the Department of Labor does offer help.

Surviving on $330 a Week

Unemployment benefits are $330 a week. How do you survive?

"At this point they need to get to the point where they're able to live within their means," says Brian Scott, of Consumer Credit Counseling. He works at the Toco Hills DOL office, counseling people on how they can stretch what seems like a small amount. It isn't easy and it requires a spartan existance.

"They strip out the Starbuck's coffee, the lottery ticket, the driving around," he says. "All that needs to be stripped out of the budget. "

Scott says it's common sense.

"They make their mortgage a priority. They make their car note a priority. Car insurance, food, utilities. Everything else needs to be eliminated from the budget."

Some look to a quick fix to solve their financial troubles and, while it might be necessary sometimes, Scott says it can be a big mistake.

"Do not tap into your 401k, if at all possible," he says. "If you happen to take money out of your 401k, you'll automatically be penalized to the tune of 10%. Not only will you be penalized 10%, you're also going to be taxed on that income the following tax year."

But Scott admits sometimes, if things are desperate, then desperate measures are needed. However, in these days of foreclosures, mortgage lenders might be more willing to work with you, if you need help paying for the house.

"Sometimes you may have a mortgage where you can just towards the interest on the loan," he says. "They may have a modification where you can take some of those payments that you wouldn't be able to pay and put them on to the back of the loan. There are options."

But, again, realism needs to carry the day if you lose your job and you're living on $330 a week.

"In a case where you have a $2000 mortgage and you have $1300 coming into the household, obviously this is a home that you cannot afford."

There are detractors who say the state's unemployment rate is high because some people are just plain lazy. Chaz Mitchell, who worked for years in banking and is now desperately looking for work, takes offense to such a notion. And he has a warning.

"If it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone."