Laura Rogers has twice been a casualty of this decade’s economic turmoil.

First she was out of work when Strong’s Office Systems closed in 2002. Four years later, she lost her job as an AT&T long-distance operator.

Facing the second bout of unemployment, the Lawrence single mom decided to do things a little differently. She used the time off to boost her skills.

“The first time I hemmed and hawed around. I thought, ‘nobody is going to want or need all that,'” Rogers said. “This time I thought, ‘I need some training. I need to get in there.'”

Rogers isn’t alone in turning a job layoff into a job learning opportunity. With a rising number of out-of-work job seekers comes a renewed interest in more training and education, whether it be GEDs or Ph.Ds.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics this month reported the national unemployment rate at 5 percent, a level it hasn’t reached since the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Particularly hard hit was the construction and manufacturing sector.

Unemployed but working

When layoffs occur, the Lawrence Workforce Center often sees construction workers wanting to learn computer skills so they can change career paths or return to school.

Stacy Walters, a business consultant with the workforce center, said it’s a great chance for more training.

“A lot of people do draw unemployment during that time, so it is a time where they are not without any kind of financial support,” she said. “And really I think the other part is to not let yourself get into a non-working frame of mind for too long. If you just get right back in and keep moving forward, I think you can see some pretty good results.”

‘Here we go again’

After drawing unemployment and working part-time at a gas station, Rogers thought her opportunity at AT&T was a job of a lifetime.

But two years later, she found herself once again out of work when the office closed.

“Just as you think you’re back on your feet, it’s like, ‘Here we go again,'” Rogers said.

She went back on unemployment. During the same time, she sought out career help at the Lawrence Workforce Center and computer classes with Goodwill Industries.

It paid off. She now works at Amarr Garage Doors keeping track of orders and using the computer skills she picked up while between jobs. And a polished resume didn’t hurt either.

“From looking at that (old) resume compared to the one I have now, I wouldn’t have hired me either,” Rogers said.

Kansas sheltered

Like some other national economic trends, the rising wave of unemployment has yet to hit Lawrence or Kansas. The state unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, compared with 5 percent nationwide.

But that’s not to say everyone who wants a job has one.

On a rainy Thursday afternoon, Rebecca Costa was online at the workforce center searching for job that was equal to the business administration degree she earned at Haskell University.

Recently laid off, Costa has yet to find a match. As she scanned job openings from the city of Topeka, Costa said she was toying with the idea of getting a master’s degree online.

“I can’t seem to find a job in Lawrence. Everywhere I applied, I’ve got nothing,” she said.

Dennis Day, vice president of student services at Johnson County Community College, said in a struggling economy, higher education becomes a cheaper option for those wanting a career change or more schooling to boost a resume.

Job vs. school

At least one study shows that results are mixed when linking graduate enrollment numbers to the business cycle.

Douglas Herman and Kelly Bedard’s research at the University of California-Santa Barbara showed that nationwide, male students were more likely to stay in school to earn a doctorate degree during periods of high unemployment. The opposite was true for master’s degrees. For women, the economic cycle seemed to make no difference, Herman said.

More research is needed, Herman said, to determine why men and women react differently. But he has some explanation as to why doctorate degrees are more prevalent for men in economic downtimes and why master’s degrees are not.

First of all, students who are considering a master’s degree program might be more willing to prolong their education into a doctorate degree during a poor economy. And the bill for master’s degrees are sometimes paid by the employers, a cost that would be among the first to go during financial hardship.

Kevin Boatright, director of communications for Kansas University’s office of research and graduate studies, says that trend sheds light on some numbers at KU’s Edwards Campus, which sees a fair share of working adults and tuition help from employers.

In the economic turmoil between 2001 and 2002, the percentage of students receiving full and partial tuition sponsorship dropped from 41 percent to 28 percent. The numbers have yet to return to pre-2000 levels.

Of course, Boatright is quick to note that the business cycle isn’t the only reason for graduate enrollment.

“For many, a master’s or doctoral degree is the capstone of their education, a good thing in its own right whether or not it has immediate and tangible economic value,” Boatright said.

Rogers would say the same for her computer classes, which she continued to attend even after getting the job at Amarr.

“I’m not a whiz. I can get by. Before, I’d hunt and peck,” she said. “Now, I know what I am doing.”