MILWAUKEE - The national unemployment crisis is taking a toll on Wisconsin.

Kelly Ambrose has time to spend with his nieces these days because he's having trouble finding work. He took his sister's four daughters to a park in Bay View on Thursday.
 
This experienced graphic designer cannot seem to get an employer to bite.
 
 "I had the same job for eight years,” Ambrose told TODAY’S TMJ4 reporter Tom Murray. "I’m not getting any replies, sending e-mails out and you get nothing back.  You wonder if they even got it."
 
He's not alone. At the HIRE Milwaukee Center, Director Alba Bartanado says competition is fierce.
 
"[Companies] have expressed that the few openings they have, they have hundreds of applications for only one job,” she explained.
 
Melanie Cosgrove Holmes, a vice president with Manpower, has seen people unable to afford a move after connecting with an out-of-town or out-of-state company.
 
"People are having a lot of trouble relocating in this economy because it's difficult to sell a house,” she said. “My advice for everybody is don't give up.”
 
The latest statistics for Wisconsin, released in May, show the state’s unemployment rate at 8.7%. That’s lower than the national number, 9.5%, released Thursday.