Pamela Hughes has sent out about 75 resumes since losing her job almost six months ago. She has been on five interviews.

And for her efforts: one job offer.

Hughes, 48, of Rockville, begins work Thursday at a local bank, where she will be a full-time teller.

"It's been really hard," she said, while waiting in a food bank line July 29 with her two teenage children. "It was a full-time job, finding a job."

Despite Hughes' success, unemployment in Montgomery County is at its highest level in almost two decades, said David Platt, chief economist for Montgomery County's Department of Finance. However, the local rate remains below state and national levels, according to June unemployment numbers.

Montgomery County's jobless rate also is lower than the rates in neighboring counties, and Platt said the local economy is not being hit as hard as other areas by the national recession.

Platt called the increase in the county's unemployment rate from June 2008 (3.4 percent) to June 2009 (5.7 percent) a "significant economic slowdown."

A steady stream of government jobs and government work has helped Montgomery County avoid the economic recession other regions are experiencing, he said.

The U.S. unemployment rate in June was 9.5 percent. As of June, the Bethesda-Frederick-Rockville region has the lowest unemployment rate (5.9 percent) among divisions of the most populous metropolitan areas tracked by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, according to a report released last week. Maryland's unemployment rate in June was 7.5 percent.

Amy Ginsburg, executive director of Manna Food Center in Rockville, said the number of people lining up at the warehouse on Lofstrand Lane has steadily increased since fall 2007, but has "leveled off" in the past few months.

In fiscal 2008, the nonprofit Manna served 24,814 households, she said. That number increased in fiscal year 2009 to 35,498 households.

"There is no way to fulfill the stereotype of what a hungry person is supposed to look like," Ginsburg said.

Some clients are working part time, when they used to be employed full time. Others are not working at all, she said.

All of them, Ginsburg said, are "treading water" in a tough economic environment.

Those eligible to receive food from Manna must meet self-sufficiency standards ranging from $30,000 for a single adult to about $70,000 for a family of four.

Hughes said Wednesday's trip to the Manna food bank was her second — and hopefully last. She took home two boxes filled with fresh fruit, bread and other items.

The items from Manna helped her and her children get by while she relied mostly on unemployment checks to pay her rent, car payments and other bills, she said.

Euda Perez, 32, of Rockville, lost her job as a school bus driver last month, but said she visited Manna even when she was employed, because she did not work enough hours to support herself.

"Now I need it more," she said, referring to the food from Manna.

Perez said she knows it will be difficult to find a job, and that she might be forced to take one that offers less pay.

Hughes said she could not have found her new job as a bank teller without the help of Montgomery Works, a nonprofit agency.

"You can't just stay home and apply online," Hughes said. "You have to get out there."

She took advantage of the resume help and job postings offered at the job center. Resources are available for people looking for jobs in all industries and with varied levels of education, said Montgomery Works CEO Doug Propheter.

About 45 percent of clients have a high school diploma or a GED, he said. Another 16 percent have a bachelor's degree, and 9 percent have a master's degree, Propheter said.

He said more people, like Hughes, are visiting the local center.

The total number of visits to the center in fiscal year 2009, which ended June 30, was 55,437 — a 21 percent increase over the year before.

The center saw 9,643 new clients in fiscal 2009, a 35 percent increase from the year before, Propheter said. In fiscal 2009, the total number of clients, including those who visited the center in the past, was 13,393 — 22 percent more than the year before.

The total number of clients who find work is difficult to track, and no numbers were available, he said.

"It's a tough economy," Propheter said. "No doubt about it. I think that there's still hiring going on. It's just not at all like it was in the past."