Sep. 26--The Triangle's jobless rate was unchanged at 8.4 percent in August, suggesting that while the worst of the recession is passing, employers aren't rushing to hire new workers.

The latest data were released Friday by the N.C. Employment Security Commission and adjusted for seasonal effects by Wells Fargo Securities economists in Charlotte.

The News & Observer uses the revised data to provide a more statistically valid measure of local unemployment. The state jobless rate, which fell slightly to 10.8 percent in August, is seasonally adjusted by the Employment Security Commission.

"These numbers show that the unemployment rate appears to be topping out around the state, but the recovery is likely to be very slow," said Mark Vitner, senior economist with Wells Fargo.

And the landscape remains bleak for job seekers. Corporations including ConAgra, Caterpillar and Nortel Networks continue to trim their local work forces. Even stalwart employers in health care, government and academia, which traditionally form a solid foundation for the Triangle economy, are cutting costs and jobs.

Fred Milligan has been out of work for about a year, ever since the bottom fell out of the local construction market.

Now Milligan, 51, is considering going to another country, perhaps Australia, where he thinks the construction business may be better.

"For the field I'm in, there's nothing," the 30-year construction veteran said during a Monster.com job fair Wednesday in Raleigh.

With a background in plaster work and metal framing, Milligan said he does not have many options.

"If things don't go well, I may be sitting in a jail cell for unpaid child support," he said. "Then how will I make money?"

Vitner doesn't expect hiring to resume at a healthy pace until the middle of next year. That said, there are a few bright spots. For starters, this year probably won't bring the tradition of holiday layoffs as employers rush to slash costs before Jan. 1, Vitner said.

"Most companies have already cut employment to the point where, if they cut any further, they'll have to shut their doors," he added.

That's not much relief for Peggy D'Amico, 56, who has been looking for work for more than a year. She was laid off from an administrative position for a financial advisory firm, where she had worked almost a decade. She is now taking classes to learn medical billing and coding.

"Years ago you didn't need a college education," she said at another job fair this week, at the Raleigh Convention Center. "Today you need a college degree and all the experience. They expect you to be an expert in everything.