The national unemployment rate increased from 6.1 to 6.5 percent since September with 250,000 people losing their jobs, according to a report released Friday by the Department of Labor.

For many Hudson Valley residents, this latest news hits home. Jean-Marie Tribie, of Spring Valley, has spent the last year searching for a full-time job as a mechanical engineer.

Tribie is not alone. Cheryl Longo, a recruiter at RJ Staffing in Nanuet, says she has seen an influx of job seekers lately, with experience ranging from clerical work to CEOs and vice presidents of companies. Positions are not easy to come by, she says.

?Unfortunately, there is a high unemployment rate right now, and there's a lot of competition for the particular positions that are available," Longo says.

With the national economy in peril, many local residents hope President-elect Barack Obama will help turn the country around when he takes over the White House in January.