When the Downtown-based Education Management Corp.'s financial aid processing department moved to Phoenix, Carrie Robertson of Lawrenceville stayed behind.

She had worked for the company for 51/2 years, making sure money that came to the school for students was credited to each student's account.

A former English major with a bachelor's degree from the University of Kentucky, Ms. Robertson, 35, started her career as a financial aid adviser at another college and worked her way up, becoming more and more specialized as she changed jobs. Now she knows the laws regarding federal financial aid and how it can be applied to college costs.

Last winter the members of her department were told their jobs were moving to a warmer climate. It was an upbeat meeting during which they were told they could apply for other jobs at EDMC and possibly move within the company before their jobs ended in June.

But there was no other job for Ms. Robertson and, in June, her employment with EDMC ended with a severance check and a call to the state Department of Labor and Industry to register for unemployment compensation.

In July, there were 1,000 fewer jobs in educational services in the Pittsburgh region than there had been in June. Ms. Robertson's job was one of those that were gone.

What she has found in the labor market supports what economists have been saying: "It looks like when I do find a job, I'm going to have to take a pretty hefty pay cut," she said.

The labor market, like the real estate market, is a buyer's market. Even existing employees aren't seeing wage increases.

In a recent study, the Economic Policy Institute, a research organization in Washington, D.C., found that real wages -- wages as impacted by inflation -- are falling, with inflation-adjusted wages for workers in private companies down 1.4 percent from last year to this.

That combination of falling wages and rising regional unemployment has Ms. Robertson worried. She is living with her boyfriend, so she is no longer footing rent on her own, but there are plenty of expenses.

"Honestly, I don't know what I am going to do," she said.

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