LANCASTER, S.C. -- Lynda Burke runs the Employment Security Commission office in Lancaster. “This is probably the worst I’ve seen it,” she said.

She says there are more jobless now, than ever. You can see it in the stacks of forms from new clients.

"Sometimes we might see 500 on Monday, 1,000 a week,” Burke said.

Soon, they'll see even more.

Today, an industrial manufacturing company Joslyn Clark controls announced its closing its Lancaster plant next year.

114 people work here according to the chamber of commerce

"It's hard to see them go, hard to replace them,” said chamber president Dean Faile.

Faile said Lancaster is still struggling from the collapse of textiles.

"We've got the springs plant building right here,” he said.

A model of what was once a textile giant rests in a glass case, Springs Industries, is gone from South Carolina, including the grace plant where Condor Bowers worked for 40 years.

"I’m almost 60-years-old. I won't ever get this back, it's gone,” Bowers said.

Today, he was at the employment office again looking for work.

"I filled out an application to go to school, truck driving school,” Bowers said.

There are new businesses moving in, but they're smaller and often seek highly specialized workers.

That's why job experts, are trying to help people get the education, to get a new job.

"We're trying to work with them, customize training; we're working with the companies coming in,” said Faile.