Poster town for recession shows hope

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - When Ed Neufeldt introduced Barack Obama at a speech in Elkhart County in February, the new president promised the laid off RV worker would find a job.

Since then, Neufeldt has found two, setting up bread displays in grocery stores and working with a company that hopes to hire hundreds to make electric motors. Neufeldt says he'd earn more money on unemployment, but he's happy to be working.

Elkhart County became emblematic of the nation's double-digit unemployment woes. Now, hope is rising there as people head back to work -- though not always at the same jobs they left, and sometimes for less money.

The unemployment rate in Elkhart spiked in March to 18.9 percent. But it has fallen steadily since, reaching 14.5 percent in November.