Missouri's unemployment rate jumped a full percentage point in May, up to nine percent, after the Show-Me State lost nearly 40,000 jobs. With so many mid-Missourians hunting for a job in the midst of this recession, it's even more important for you to stand out as a job candidate.

"Do you know anybody that needs a job?" asks Barbara Bourn. "You need a job? We're going to give you a wristband and it says 'I need a job."

That's right, desperation lead Barbara Bourn and her friend from Florida, both victims of the recession themselves, to come up with a new way to let people know you're on the job hunt.

"You wear it everywhere you go and you will get noticed," says Bourn. "Market yourself where ever you go, 24 hours a day."

The ladies show up at job fairs, grocery stores, anywhere to give away the "laid off, need a job" bracelets. They also sell them online for three bucks.

"Where it everywhere you go. And hopefully, good luck," says Bourn.

With these wristbands, they say they're banding together with the unemployed. And it seems it might be working. There are plenty of success stories after over 6,000 bracelets have been distributed since they were created in March.

"A girl in Atlanta, she was in a convenience store and this lady asked her about her bracelet and she told her, 'I'm looking for a job.' And the lady turned her on to somebody who was hiring," says Bourn. "So she got a job."

Bourn tells me a passerby recently noticed the bracelet of a concrete worker without a job. That passerby owned a construction company and gave the man with the bracelet a job.

Bourn says the bracelet is all about networking and making connections. She says it's the new way to dress for success.
 
 
The bracelet creators told Mallory by phone Wednesday that they're not getting rich with their new business idea. In fact, they both still wear their "I need a job" bracelet. You can buy the wristbands online for $3 each or buy them in bulk to give to family and friends. Follow the link below to the company's website.