It's still officially up in the air -- are we in a recession?

But for those out of work, the answer seems clear.

"People are saying a recession is possible. I think it's already going on," said DeMarcus Brown.

He's been hunting for a job for five months -- he says he thought he'd be working by now.

"I'm surprised, it never took me that long to find a job before," he said.

More people are waiting longer to find jobs.

The state unemployment rate went up a quarter to 5% in the last year.

But the number of jobs is up too -- the area added 2000 jobs in the same time frame.

Mike Armstrong is assistant director of the Augusta Career Center.

He says it does seem harder for folks to find work.

"It's a little lower than usual, but not like something dried up," he said.

In fact, Armstrong says things seem slightly better in 2008.

"Last year was a busy year because of some of the plants closing or shutting down, like the Castleberry's shutdown. We haven't seen anything like that yet this year," he said.

But it doesn't seem better for DeMarcus Brown -- he says it's been a long 5 months.

"I just want a job to pay gas prices and everything," he said.

Officials say they've also heard of people looking for second jobs to help pay for gas and groceries.

But they say, there's no way to tell who is looking for a first or second job.