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RAMEN NOODLES

The slow hiring is particularly distressing for people like David Boyce of Tacoma, Wash., who's been unemployed for two years. Boyce, 30, had been a salesman for Yellow Book USA before being laid off.

Boyce received unemployment benefits for about 15 months. They ran out in September.

His wife works as a nanny for a real estate executive. But her hours were slashed after the housing bust.

"We lived off savings for a while, and now we're living off ramen noodles basically," Boyce said.

After interviewing twice at one company for an entry-level sales job, Boyce was told it would make a hiring decision after five more interviews.

"I have never gone through that kind of rigmarole before just to get back to an entry-level sales job," he said.

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NOWHERE TO HIDE

Hiring was weak, if it occurred at all, in eight of 10 industry categories the government tracks.

Manufacturing, which has been a source of strength, added 16,000 jobs. Education and health services, which tend to be less affected by economic cycles, added 19,000.