Jon Ghan didn’t beat around the bush.

“I was laid off yesterday,” he said Thursday.

After the end of his job in advertising graphics, he's wasting no time looking for his next leap. He was at the state’s Missouri Career Center office.

"I'd rather be somewhere else, I assure you. It's a nice day outside but I'm glad I have the opportunity to be looking,” he said.

Dozens others are taking that opportunity. The Missouri Career Center says it’s been swamped by everyone from people who've lived on the streets to established professionals.

"I think it's going to get harder for most people before it gets better,” said Ghan.

It may get harder yes, but Springfield may be spared the highs and lows.

“We’re hovering around 5.3 percent (unemployment). The past year or so, we hovered between 4 to 5 percent, so it's up just a little bit,” said Ryan Mooney, the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce’s vice president for business development.

Springfield's losses are balanced by its old reliables.

"If you add several dominant industries in the area, it would be health care and higher education, things that are almost recession proof,” said Mooney.

Those on the opposite end have a tougher go of it but one of the newer faces at the career center says people should keep their chins up.

"It's very discouraging but it's like a lot of things. It's the way you look at it and handle it, whenever you have adversity facing you,” said Ghan.