NEW YORK - AFTER nine fruitless months of looking for work, Mr Paul Nawrocki turned to a Depression-era tactic to find a job.

Over the past few days the 59-year-old businessman has been walking the sidewalks of midtown Manhattan wearing a suit, a tie, and a large signs that reads, 'Almost homeless.'

'My unemployment benefits are going to run out in less than a month. I was getting a little panicked and I didn't know what to do,' said Mr Nawrocki, who was laid off from his job at a toy company last February.

'Finally I said, 'I'm going to put out a sandwich board and try to sell myself in the city,'' he said.

'I had to do something dramatic, because I was getting really discouraged sending my resume out every day, and not getting anywhere.'

The sight of a middle-class businessman down on his luck seems to have struck a chord with some New Yorkers.

Mr Nawrocki said he's already landed interviews with recruiters who saw him passing out his resume on the street.

A business news blogger posted an item about him, which led to more coverage on BusinessWeek.com and an interview with the BBC.

He's gotten encouragement from regular New Yorkers too.

'People here can be very warm here when they see that someone is genuinely vulnerable,' said Mr Nawrocki.

'I've seen a lot of people look at me and get scared, too.'

'Not of me, but you see it in their eyes. They are thinking, 'Could it come to this? Could this be me someday?''

Mr Nawrocki, who is married with a daughter just out of college, spent 23 years in the toy industry, mostly as an import operations manager.

He made a good salary at his old job, 'almost six figures,' he said, but has burned through his retirement savings since losing his job at the Sababa Group in February. The company filed for bankruptcy in August.

As for the 'almost homeless' line on his sign, 'It's not far from the truth,' Mr Nawrocki said.

His wife has health problems that limit her ability to work. The family has big health insurance and mortgage payments coming due.

'I don't know what's going to happen if I don't work in the next few weeks,' he said. -- AP