AP/ August 8, 2012, 4:01 PM

Thousands attend Alabama job fair

Scene from a job fair in Alabama. People began lining up three hours before the event began Wednesday at Birmingham's convention center on Aug. 8,2012.

Scene from a job fair in Alabama. People began lining up three hours before the event began Wednesday at Birmingham's convention center on Aug. 8,2012. / CBS News/WIAT

(AP) BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - A job fair featuring more than 100 employers drew an estimated 5,000 people seeking work in Birmingham.

People began lining up three hours before the event began Wednesday at the city's convention center. The job fair was put together by the office of Rep. Terri Sewell, whose district includes part of metro Birmingham and much of the state's impoverished Black Belt region.

Sewell says the unemployment rate in her district is 18.8 percent, or more than 10 percentage points above the national level. She says the high rate is based on an insufficient number of jobs, not on an unwillingness to work.

Companies participating in the job fair had to be hiring for positions that are currently open.

© 2012 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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CaptainSmollett says:
There should have been a banner that said:
Mr. President, wish you were here.
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shin456 says:
I went to the job fair, one it was hot we expected that, the wait to get inside was long I got there at 8:30 and did not walk into the building to around 12:00. This is just the start, they said dress nice, have your resume ready. What do we get, this is what we are hiring fill out the application online, which means our Corporate office will look into hiring you. I have a MBA this was not a job fair if they were hiring they would have done some interviews there, and do not say that the information age makes it easier, you have to do this face to face not over the internet. Plus even if I asked about a entry level job I was turned away because of my MBA which means they were afraid I would take there job. All this was, was a politician trying to get votes, she does not have my vote, oh and do not tell me I need to go to a class to help me start a carrer when I have a MBA we have classes like that all the time. Waist of my time I could have gotten up ate breakfast and went to Carrier builder.com and gotten better results.
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