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The official unemployment rate for New York City has climbed to 10.3 percent, higher than at any point in the last 16 years. It is also higher than the national unemployment rate. WNYC continues its series of profiles of the region's jobless:

FRIEDMAN: I'm currently unemployed. I used to be a corporate travel professional.

HOST: Jessica Friedman lost her job in June has been unable to find work since.

FRIEDMAN: It was that day, get out. Yeah, it was, it was. They were a good company. It’s a bad time. They had a lot of banking business. It was a trickle down effect.

I felt horrible. For a while I was staying up late and then sleeping late, but I stopped doing that. I’ll try to go to the library, I try to read a lot. I go to the gym. It’s funny because the little things that you don’t think about, like spending an extra five dollars on fancy shampoo, or moisturizer or anything like using one less square on the toilet paper—just things you don't realize how much things cost. I didn't have to worry about $5, $10. Now I do.

Your career is part of who you are. When you meet somebody what do they ask you? What do you do for a living? Well, what do I do for a living? Nothing, I’m unemployed. You can’t help but feel embarrassed about it and feel like kind of on the loser side of things.

In my field right now, there is nothing. One interview didn’t work out. The last question he asked me was would I give my clients my cell phone number? I’m like, no. Because they’ll call you at three o’clock in the morning.

Now I'm trying to see whether I can change my career and maybe become a personal trainer or a fitness instructor.

There’s somebody at the gym. His name is Rich. He came over to me while I was working out and he said, “Let me work you out one day?” And I kind of felt bad because I knew I couldn’t hire him but at the same time I wanted to work out with him because I realized the big difference between not working out with a trainer and working out with one. And I don't think people realize what the difference is.

I’m 44. And I think I would like to work with women who are 35 and over who've never worked out before. Because I'm not 20 I think women my age would relate more to me than maybe a 20 year old girl. So I figured I’d try it and see ‘cause I really like working out. I'm really into health and fitness and helping people.

It’s like starting all over again. I mean It’s like 20 years ago when I was starting in the travel industry I didn’t make any money. I didn't know anything. I was starting in the beginning. It’s a hard thing to swallow.

HOST: Jessica Friedman enrolled in a course to get certified as a personal trainer and fitness instructor last month with a grant from the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty. WNYC Reporter Matthew Schuerman met up with her at a gym in midtown after one of the sessions.