There's no TGIF at the job center

Unemployed chess instructor Anthony Johnson searched for jobs Friday at the Harlem Career Center.

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The end of the workweek has little meaning at a state-run employment office in Harlem, which has become increasingly full as the economy continues to lose jobs.

The neighborhood served by the Workforce1 Career Center has seen a staggering increase in unemployment applicants, Judy Sullivan, a representative of supervising labor services for the New York State Department of Labor, said Friday.

Sullivan said that 314 people filed for unemployment in the Harlem neighborhood this week, up from 213 last week. Many of them have gone to the Career Center to look for jobs, to brush up on their computer and resume-writing skills, and to seek assistance in setting up their own businesses.

"We're really not an unemployment office, we're an employment office, and our job is to get you back to work as quickly as possible," said Sullivan. "But you don't want to give people false hope. People come in looking for work, but sometimes we don't have the jobs they're looking for. Companies are hiring, but a lot of companies are laying off."

The U.S. Labor Department said Friday that unemployment surged to 5.5% in May from 5% the prior month, the steepest monthly increase in 22 years. The Labor Department also said 49,000 jobs were lost nationwide in May, part of 324,000 lost jobs so far this year.

Sullivan said the Career Center receives up to 40 visitors a day, but after Friday's news, she expects up to 50 jobless people will walk through her doors every day. A number of them lost their jobs on Wall Street's battered financial sector, she said, and trying to replace their six-figure jobs can be daunting.

"If they were making $100,000, our goal is to find them a position where they were making 80% of that," said Sullivan. "But those jobs aren't out there right now."

Sekou Shutsha, who was searching for jobs at the Career Center, wants to go back to school so he can become a real estate agent in lower Manhattan. But as an unemployed prep cook with a nine-year-old son, he has more immediate needs.

"I've got to get some money coming in," said Shutsha. "I'm looking for any type of food service employment right now."

Shutsha said he's been out of work since October, when the jobs at his temporary employment agency dried up. He acknowledged that many other people are in similar straights, given the rising price of gas and food, and the ongoing loss of employment.

Anthony Johnson, a single parent with three children under the age of seven, left his job last week as a part-time chess instructor for a non-profit organization serving the city Department of Education.

Johnson said he was being passed over for promotional opportunities. Now he's seeking work as an instructor and would like to go back to school so he can be more competitive in the job market.

Johnson has vowed to remain positive, and he urged others to do the same. "I feel that just because the job market is down, no one should give up too early," he said. "Just keep your head up always, at all times."

"You have to network," he added. "That's the key."

"I need cash flow," said Marvin Gaye Dunkley, who was at the center looking for a job until he can get his moving business off the ground. "I'm enthusiastic and I can get something done. Some people don't like to get their hands dirty, but I don't mind. If you're hungry inside, somewhere, somehow, you're going to get a dollar."