Hundreds of job-seekers showed up to a career fair in Research Triangle Park this afternoon.

More than 500 job seekers registered for the event, but a lot more people showed up.

Twenty-two employers were at the fair looking for workers.

The state's jobless rate was 11.1 percent in May.

That's the highest it has been since the current measuring system was implemented more than 30 years ago.

"What doesn't kill you, will make you stronger," Job-Seeker Edward Thornton said.

The fight for Thornton to find a job is definitely getting tougher, but he hasn't lost his optimism.

"Even with the mass number of people here today, you have to remain positive and look at the glass as half-full," he said.

These days, that's not an easy task.

Thursday, Thornton was surrounded by hundreds of people at a National Career Fairs job fair, who were all vying for a limited number of jobs.

"North Carolina has been hit rather hard in terms of unemployment," National Career Fairs President Diana Nicholson said. "So there are a lot of people out looking for work."

The Radisson Hotel parking lot where the event was held looked more like parking for the state fair, with multiple cars parked on surrounding grass

Job-seeker Michaela Corcoran has been unemployed since January.

Like many job seekers, she's finding more and more competition as time goes on.

"I'll probably re-think that when i get a job but right now, i don't think (the economy) is getting that much better," Corcoran said.

The difference for Thornton is that he voluntarily left his old job in March, right in the thick of the recession.

He said he did it to concentrate on a more important job.

"Well, I only have one chance to be a father," he said. "I have the rest of my life to work."

(Click the middle picture above the video player to hear more from Thornton)

Eventually the jobs will return and Thornton says his fight will have made him a little bit stronger.

Hear more from Job-Seekers by clicking here.