The same week workers get layed off at Siemens in Hutchinson and Hawker Beechcraft in Wichita, the latest unemployment numbers show a slight improvement.
"I usually get about ten miles in every day, depending on what errands I have to run to make sure I have food and everything for the family," Brice Gordon says.
Gordon is on foot and out of work, with a broken-down car a family to feed.
"They're counting on me, so every second I go without being employed is a heartache and a half," Gordon says.
This out-of-work Army veteran says he's willing to take just about any job. He recently moved his family from California to Wichita, hoping this would be the land of opportunity. But so far, his only way to earn money is by selling plasma.
"I know I'm helping somebody else out who's going through worse times than I am," Gordon says. "I'm also getting a little something for the time, so that helps out a little bit," he says.
While the Kansas unemployment numbers continue to drop, Gordon says, you could have fooled him.
"Until I find something, I'm not going to believe it."
New numbers show the statewide unemployment rate dipped a tenth of a percent last month to 6.2. For the Wichita metro it remains higher, but is down half a point to 7.3 percent. However, experts say that doesn't tell the whole story.
"A lot of the unemployment rate's improvement has been because some people are not formally looking or say they're not looking," Friends University finance professor Malcolm Harris says. "Maybe they've retired, but they may have retired only because they know they can't find a job."
Still, Harris says the numbers indicate things are improving.
He says the presidential race is causing uncertainty for employers, because the candidates have such different plans. For President Obama, it's lower interest rates and more government spending. For Mitt Romney, it's cutting taxes and reducing regulations.
"They are both reasonable explanations of how the world works," Harris says. "But, they are incompatible with each other."
Meanwhile, Brice Gordon and lot of others continue looking for work, hoping better times are right around the corner.
