NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Unemployment hit 9.5 % today. Since the beginning of the year, almost 3 and a half million people have lost their jobs. And it's not just about losing a paycheck, it's also a way of life.

1. Reach out

If you're unemployed, you're certainly not alone. Reach out to other people in the same boat.

Check out meet. This site will have information on local groups of unemployed people who meet to exchange feedback on resumes, cover letters and interviews.

You can also check out layoff - a community of people who have lost their jobs. Even if it's just to vent your frustrations, it's important to have people willing to listen AND understand. And don't be afraid to tell your colleagues, customers and friends that you're unemployed. Be up front.

2. Get on a schedule

One of the hardest things to get used to when you don't have a job, is having an entire day with no structure. So, treat your job search project as you would a regular full-time job.

Get out of the PS and put on something you would wear to work at your old job. If you can, do some volunteer work or take on a part-time job.

3. Explore going back to school

Going back to school to further your education IS an option. But, you really should consider if it will pay off.

If getting a degree will significantly give you an advantage and you'll reap the rewards with higher pay down the road, by all means, explore this path. You can save a bundle by going to community college or taking some classes online.

But don't go back to school just because you need something to do. That's an expensive lesson.

4. Help for veterans

Veterans have been hit particularly hard. The jobless rate for vets serving between September 2001 through today is 9.3%.

Now, there are some things that are being done. For one, as part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery act, businesses that hire vets are eligible for a $2,400 tax credit.

So, if you're a veteran, or you know someone who is a veteran looking for work, the Labor Department has a special Web site that focuses specifically on helping Vets find work. That Web site is Hirevetsfirst.com. On this site you can get a list of military friendly employers, get the latest info on career fairs or access resume writing tips for vets.

Casual Labour Week is here.

It's an annual event organized by The Comox Valley Service Canada Centre for Youth that links young people who are looking for casual summer work and employers who are in need of workers. It takes place from July 6 to 17.

"Casual labour week is a great opportunity for the Comox Valley SCCY to increase the number of casual job postings in our database," said Mathew Chisholm, Lead Youth Services officer. "These casual jobs offer a great opportunity for youth looking to build their work experience or earn extra money on top of their regular job."

Those looking for casual work can sign up for the labour program at the centre or attend outreach events held by SCCY team. All they have to do is provide their work experience and availability. They are then are notified when a suitable job become available. It can be anything from lawn work, clerical duties, and painting or flyer distribution.

The SCCY is promoting their casual labour services at various locations in the valley:

- Monday, July 6, 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at Tim Horton's on Ryan Rd. Homeowners and employers who stop and sign up a casual job posting will receive a car was in return.

- Thursday, July 9, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Slegg Lumber. There will be an informational table and casual labour sign up for youth, employers and homeowners.

- Friday, July 10, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Comox Lake. The SCCY will be promoting youth employment, provide job search tips as well as information on other employment related topics such as workplace health and safety.

- Monday, July 13, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Quality Foods. SCCY will be hosting an informational table, and casual labour sign up for youth, employers and homeowners.

The U.S. labor market remains mired in recession: Employers shed another 467,000 jobs last month; the unemployment rate now stands at 9.5 percent; the economy has lost a record 5.7 million jobs over the past year and 6.5 million since the recession began in December 2007. The breadth and depth of the current recession point towards the continued necessity of spending the recovery dollars to get people back to work.

The underlying news in today’s report, however, is that unemployment remained little changed because so many workers exited the labor force. In June, 358,000 workers reported exiting the labor force, nearly as many as the 374,000 who reported losing a job. This is an indication of the frustration that many are experiencing in trying to find employment—they are simply giving up. The number of discouraged workers has more than doubled to 793,000 since the recession began in December 2007. Indeed, the number of workers who reported being unemployed in May but then out of the labor force in June is 2.6 million—higher than at time since 1990. The share of the population with a job fell to 59.5 percent, the lowest since 1984.

There continues to be evidence that there is more pain down the pipeline. In May, the number of mass layoffs—an announcement of 50 or more employees being laid off—was at an all-time high of 2,933 incidents, indicating that unemployment will continue to rise in the months to come. Some of this may be reflected in June’s employment data, but it may not account for them all if these layoffs were staggered over time. On top of this, hours fell to another historic low in June, with the average worker employed for only 33 hours per week. And the temporary help industry—an indicator of employer’s willingness to take on new workers—continued to hemorrhage jobs last month, losing another 37,600 jobs in June, indicating that employers are under no pressure to begin hiring anytime soon.

Job losses were again widespread in June, with manufacturing and construction showing the largest share of the job losses. So far over the course of this 17-month recession, these two industries have accounted for half—49.6 percent—of total job losses. Manufacturing shed another 136,000 jobs in June for a total of 1.9 million since the recession began in December 2007. There are now fewer manufacturing workers employed in the United States since anytime since 1941. Construction shed another 79,000 jobs in June and 1.3 million jobs since the recession began. The high share of job losses in these two industries explains why men have lost three out of every four jobs lost since the recession began.

Even if layoffs stopped today, the grim news for workers will not end until employers begin to hire again. But employers will not add to payrolls until they see increased demand for their goods and services from domestic or foreign consumers. As long as homeowners continue to see falling home prices and workers see higher unemployment and reduced hours, consumers will be keeping their wallets shut. Since consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the U.S. economy, the lack of consumer purchasing power will constrain economic growth, and thus employment growth, for some time to come. And because the recession is global, it is unlikely our trading partners will be pulling us out of this quagmire anytime soon.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law swiftly by President Obama is designed to fill in the gap in demand by pumping billions of dollars into communities around the nation. The impact of these funds are only beginning to be felt as projects get up and running, although the tax cuts led to higher take-home pay for workers in April. So far, the Recovery Act is going according to plan—$52.9 billion has gone out the door. The largest job gains from this spending were projected to occur in the late fall through 2010, so the biggest bang is still ahead of us.

One of the biggest threats to the effectiveness of the recovery package is that states are seeing such large declines in tax revenues that they are being forced to cut back—in some cases drastically—in services. This is adding another drag onto local economies while also paring back in many cases the very services that unemployed workers and their families need access to.

Workers who have been laid off are having an exceptionally hard time finding new work. The latest data shows that there are five unemployed workers for every job available. Further, even though record numbers of workers have lost their jobs within the past six months because a new job is hard to find, the share of the unemployed who have been out of work and searching for a job for at least six months hit another all-time high of 29.0 percent. This is especially disturbing given that 3.4 million jobs have been lost within the past six months. In May, the Department of Labor reported that over the past 12 months a record average 49.2 percent of those receiving unemployment benefits exhausted their initial six months of benefits without finding a job. Because of the Recovery Act, these workers are eligible for up to an additional 53 weeks of unemployment benefits, on top of their initial 26 weeks, if they cannot find a job.

The pain of the recession is widespread, with a few demographics seeing their unemployment rates higher than at any point since the Great Depression. The unemployment rate is at an all-time high of 7 percent among workers age 55 and over, and the teen unemployment rate of 24 percent is only one-tenth of a percent shy of its all-time record set in 1982. Among adult white men, the unemployment rate is at a post-Great Depression high of 9.2 percent and the share of men with a job continues its record-breaking downward march—only 67.7 percent of adult men were working in June. Prior to this recession, the share of men with a job had never fallen below 70.5 percent—a record set in 1983.

It continues to be the case that minority workers, teens, and less-educated workers have unemployment rates far higher than the national average. In June, African-American unemployment was 14.7 percent, Hispanic unemployment was 12.2 percent, and unemployment for those without a high school degree was 15.5 percent and for those with only a high school degree was 9.8 percent. African-American and Hispanic workers saw their unemployment rates fall slightly last month, but this was associated with a decline in labor force participation so this is more an indication of how challenging the labor market is rather than a sign of improved employment opportunities.

The Obama administration’s focus on laying the foundation for long-term economic through policies addressing climate change, health care, and financial regulation continue to be critical for the long-term employment situation. At this point, the economy is still under the spell of the massive downward momentum that built up last year as the outgoing Bush administration did little to address the burgeoning economic challenges in the real economy.

At this point, unless we want to embark on another massive stimulus plan, there’s little we can do in the months to come to keep unemployment from rising beyond continuing to provide unemployment benefits and access to health care and other services. But, over the long term, the goal should be getting our economy back on track and growing in a sustainable fashion, while limiting the potential for this kind of finance-led crisis to happen again.

Even though it is past the midway mark of the month of June, it isn’t too late for students looking for summer employment to find a job.

The Napanee Service Canada Centre for Youth (SCCY) has been up and running for a few weeks, and has already helped dozens of local students find employment for the summer and beyond.

Even though the school year has already ended for college and university students, and will soon end for high school students, SCCY youth services officer Deanna Jones said plenty of job opportunities are coming through the doors of the centre.

“No, it’s not too late. There’s actually a lot more jobs coming in now than there were a month ago when we opened. It’s kind of hit and miss depending on the industry, and it kind of depends on what the employers need and when they need it,” said Jones, adding that the SCCY is open until mid-August.

The SCCY deals with both potential employees and employers, helping one find the other.

“We go into a lot of the high school and do a lot of presentations, and we do a lot of promotional events to kind of get the word out. We go out and we talk to all the employers ... and just let them know who we are and what we do, so that they feel comfortable coming here and posting their jobs, rather than not posting them.”

The centre is designed to help students, from age 14 to 30 (as long as they are full-time students) find work over the summer. But Jones added that a number of employers she has dealt with are looking for high school students who can continue to work part time throughout the school year.

“For the students, we do things like helping with resumes, cover letters, interview prep [preparation]. We have health and safety workshops that we do too, and we help with job search techniques,” said Jones, a Belleville resident, who is in the justice studies program at Loyalist College.

Even in the age of Facebook and Twitter, cover letters and resumes are of prime importance.

“In your cover letter, you want to brag about yourself as much as you can. And it’s really important to have everything tailored just for each job. So it’s important that if you are applying for, say, a position with the Salvation Army ... then you take that job description and your alter your resume and your cover letter for what the job wants. It’s important to make yourself look like the best candidate,” Jones explained.

“And we teach you how to tailor it. We teach you haw to be specific about your resume and how to make it look not generic, and how to change your skills, because a lot of students are using a functional resume, which highlights their skills rather than their experience.
And that’s because a lot of our students don’t have that much experience. So we’re showing them how they can get a job without experience.

“We just say, ‘no experience, no problem,’ because we’re going to help students have a competitive edge to their stuff. It looks good when it comes out of here. It looks professional. It has what what employers want on it.”

The centre also offers an odd job squad service, where businesses or even individual homeowners place ads looking for short term help.

“Students can sign up for that. If their application meets the requirements for the job, we then send out the student’s information to the employer and they get in touch with the student, so it operates as sort of a referral system, said Jones.

Jones can also direct students to special programs under the federal government’s new Canada Summer Jobs Initiative, which offers employers incentives to hire Aboriginal youth, visible minorities, youth with disabilities, and those living in communities that have high youth unemployment rates, are more remote, or in high crime areas.

There are also applications for college and university students looking to get summer work with the federal government. This is how Jones got her gig as the youth services office for the Napanee SCCY office.

Students are welcome to visit the SCCY, which is located in Murphy’s Business Plaza, 2 Dairy Avenue, near The Napanee Guide office.

The U.S. Labor Department reported this month that job seekers outnumber reported job openings by about 5-to-1. That helps explain job hunters’ protracted searches.

Competition for available jobs is fierce. With so many applicants, employers have the luxury to wait for the perfect candidate.

Here are ways to appear "perfect" for your target job:

Apply only for the positions for which you can make the case that you’re a good fit. You’ll just depress yourself and get no responses by applying for longer-shot jobs.

Tailor your résumé for the published requirements. Show how your professional experience dovetails with the job.

If you’re trying to change industries, translate industry jargon or titles to make it clear how your skills and experience are transferable.

Research compensation structures in the industry and company so that you don’t price yourself out of consideration or appear "overqualified."

Augment your résumé with a cover letter or attachment offering a strong sales, marketing, quality or productivity improvement idea.

Give names and correct contact information for references who you know will say positive things about you. Keep your references updated so that they don’t say, "I know Mary really wants to work as an events planner" when you’ve applied for a public relations job.

If you’re stuck with an online application system, answer every question.

Be prepared for a first-round telephone screening. Be ready with solid answers to questions you’d expect in an interview, including "Why do you want to work here?"

Have a clear, benign e-mail address, such as your name, rather than something silly like "boogerboy" or "easygrrrl."

Have a clear, straightforward recorded greeting on your cellphone and landline — no music, no kids, no sayings, no background noise.

Can you do all this and still not get a response? Sure. Remember the 5-to-1 ratio. But doing these things should improve your odds of a follow-up.