Desperate times call for desperate measures (of course they could just vote against free-trade candidates):

North Carolina town prays for jobs
LENOIR, N.C. -- After years of layoffs at furniture plants, the county with North Carolina's highest unemployment rate held a day of prayer hoping it would help end tough economic times.

About 200 people gathered at the Caldwell County Fairgrounds Sunday to seek divine intervention for a community coping with a 13.1 percent jobless rate.

"People are down and out," said Rev. Rodney Raby, who organized the event. "They need some help. They need support."

Raby, pastor of Nazareth Advent Christian Church in Lenoir, was laid off in April from the Broyhill Furniture Harper Plant where he had worked for 19 years. Raby found a management job at Bernhardt Furniture later that month, but he knows many aren't so lucky.

"It's a rarity for folks to have a steady job," said Kevin Matheson, pastor of The Church of His Holy Spirit in Lenoir. "Some people have just given up here."