Life in the Unemployment Line : Jobs: Although statistics paint a portrait of an active recovery, visits to unemployment offices in four U.S. cities tell a different story.

The national unemployment rate is falling, and a parade of official reports suggest that the economy is improving. But don’t try to persuade Juan Antonio Vasquez that the job market is looking up.

Vasquez, 21, a strapping lifelong Southern Californian, has been looking for work since being laid off in June. Although he figures that he has contacted 200 employers, the former garment shop production manager still has no serious prospects.

“In the private sector, it’s pretty grim,” he said.

Legions of American job hunters share that gloomy outlook. The nation’s unusual economic recovery--a rebound that is invigorating business but adding scant employment--is bringing little joy to those on the front lines of the job market.

The discouragement was reflected in government figures released Friday showing that the nation’s unemployment rate fell to 7.1% in January, the lowest level in a year, mainly because half a million workers quit looking for jobs.

Even many of those with jobs face being underemployed, holding part-time or temporary positions rather than the full-time jobs they want.

Those concerns emerged in interviews this week at state employment offices across the country. Here are the stories of job hunters in four U.S. cities:

Juan Antonio Vasquez, Los Angeles

Vasquez had worked at his family’s garment-cutting shop ever since he was a young boy.

But business at the shop, which a few years ago employed as many as 30 workers, has dwindled steadily. Now it’s a one-person operation run by Vasquez’s father.

Vasquez has looked for other jobs in the garment business, but believes that if any openings exist for a production manager, they will pay maybe half the $9-an-hour rate he used to make. The attitude among employers, he said, is “if you don’t want it, fine, we’ll find someone else.”

Vasquez completed a three-month program at the Rio Hondo Fire Academy, is taking further courses at East Los Angeles College and serves as a volunteer firefighter in Lynwood.

Yet Vasquez, who speaks English and Spanish and knows sign language, expresses frustration over community college cutbacks and other obstacles facing his generation.

And there is loneliness to contend with. His wife, Martha, has returned to her native Mexico with the couple’s two young daughters. She is working there as a receptionist until Vasquez finds employment.

“I’ll bring them back as soon as I score a job,” Vasquez said.

Connie Stanford, Houston

Unlike some unemployment insurance applicants sitting in the Texas Employment Commission office, Connie Stanford, 27, said she felt no embarrassment about seeking assistance. “It’s just the way things are today. . . . It’s something you do till you get back on your feet,” Stanford said.

She was laid off last month as an administrative assistant at a small oil company. The 30-person office where she worked for three years was slashed to a staff of seven.

Her severance pay runs out next week, and Stanford hasn’t been able to find a job paying as much as the roughly $24,000 a year she used to earn. She has moved back home with her mother, but still has bills and a car loan to pay.

Stanford, who attended college but didn’t earn a degree, worries about the future. She fears that her generation never will have the job security enjoyed by her parents’ generation.

“Both of my parents worked at the same company for 40 years. They had jobs for life. Nowadays, that’s just not possible,” she said.

Stanford also talked about her fiance, a welder who was laid off last fall. “He found another welding job, but at less pay than before. . . . That seems to be how it’s going--you can find another job, but not one as good as the one you had before.”

Robert Scarola, Chicago

Until losing his job four weeks ago, Robert Scarola sold motivational videos and training programs. But now he’s the one looking for inspiration.

Scarola, 39, said he realizes that even when he finally lands a job it probably won’t be as lucrative as his last position.

Scarola, a longtime salesman, said he once earned more than $100,000 a year. Now he’s looking for more job security--perhaps in the health care, pharmaceuticals or graphics business.

“I don’t want to find myself out of a job again at 45,” he said.

Scarola moved from New York one year ago to marry a vice president with a Chicago insurance company. Together, they decided he would relocate because his skills were more transferable. But it’s been difficult, and Scarola hasn’t adjusted easily to being out of a job.

“The first thing you miss is the companionship. I’m not used to being at home. . . . It’s a very humbling experience.”

Lynn Cornell, Denver

Lynn Cornell, 41, started as a maintenance man 14 years ago and worked his way up to chief executive of a Colorado property management company, earning $48,000 a year with generous benefits. Now he’s trying to start his career over again, after being dismissed last month by the company’s new owners.

Although his wife has a good job selling industrial parts, Cornell estimated that they can get by no longer than six months on their savings and one income. Their home is modest and their cars paid for, but they now have a baby.

These days, Cornell said, he spends much of his time in his basement, cranking out resumes on a personal computer. He has developed software to keep track of companies contacted. “It keeps me active and it’s something I’m good at,” he said.

Cornell said it will take three to six months to find a good management job, in real estate or a new field. It “just depends on how long you can hold out and what you’re willing to settle for,” Cornell said.

Contributing to this story were Times researchers Doug Conner in Seattle, Lianne Hart in Houston, Ann Rovin in Denver, Tracy Shryer in Chicago and Edith Stanley in Atlanta.

Unemployment by Group

Unemployment rates among certain demographic groups, as reported by the Labor Department. The percentages are seasonally adjusted.

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Jan. Dec. Jan. Category 1993 1992 1992 Civilian 7.1 7.3 7.1 Adult men 6.4 6.8 6.8 Adult women 6.4 6.4 6.0 Whites 6.2 6.3 6.3 Blacks 14.2 14.2 13.7 Latinos 11.6 11.7 11.2 All teens 19.7 19.2 18.9 Black teens 38.5 36.5 34.9