Hundreds Show for SW Houston Job Fair

HOUSTON - Hundreds of unemployed Houstonians showed up at a job fair on the southwest side of town on Wednesday.

Over 150 people made their way into the West Gray Multi-service Center in the first 20 minutes of the fair. Some of those job seekers waited up to three hours to meet with select companies.

From Continental Airlines to Hilton Americas and the U.S. Census Bureau, a wide range of companies and organizations helped host the event with Jobing.com and Career and Recovery Resources, Inc.

Houston's unemployment rate is still better than the rest of the country -- holding at about 8.5 percent. According to Jobing.com, Texas added 32,000 jobs last year but only 29,000 people to the work force.

Peter Difilipantonio with Jobing.com says as unemployment benefits run out, people get more desperate to settle for the next job they can land.

"They get a little bit more realistic -- it's unfortunate," said Difilipantonio. "They become a little bit more 'okay, I can work for a little bit less' or 'I'll work in a job I'm a little less enthused about, but I need to do something'."

He expects job creation to continue at a good rate in Texas, but local workers will face competition from those moving to the Houston area as well.

The job fair ends around 1 p.m. Wednesday.

More on the web: www.careerandrecovery.org and www.jobing.com