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RALEIGH – North Carolina's unemployment rate has hit a new record high at 11.1 percent in January.

That's 2 percent above the national unemployment rate of 9.7 percent.

Temetrice Whisnant has been out of work for the past two years. So like more than half a million North Carolinians, finding a job is her full-time job.

“I've been working since I was 15 years old and this is the longest amount of time I've been without a job,” she said. “I think there's just so many people looking for a job, it's kind of overwhelming.”

Numbers released Wednesday show unemployment in North Carolina hit a new record high in January at 11.1 percent. That's up from 10.9 percent in December and 9.2 percent in January 2009.

Despite the constant climb in unemployment, officials with the Employment Security Commission say North Carolina's job market is stable.

“It's not jagging up and down wildly,” said David Clegg, deputy chairman and chief operating officer of the NCESC. “It's very consistent, and what that shows is there is innate baseline stability in North Carolina's economy.”

ESC officials note the state gained 8,000 new jobs in January. But unfortunately for job seekers, 15,000 new people joined the labor market the same month.

“Clearly, there is something going on in the larger economy to bring people back to the labor market in such a significant number,” Clegg said.

That's little consolation for Whisnant, still desperately searching for a job.

“I'm struggling now,” she said, “but without unemployment, I can't imagine what we would be going through right now.”

With the current extension of unemployment benefits, a person could receive unemployment checks for up to two years. The average right now is four to five months.