Thousands Camp Out for Job Fair as Jobless Rate Rises

Thousands Camp Out for Job Fair as Jobless Rate Rises

Thousands of unemployed waited overnight, camping out in their business suits and office heels and braving the tormenting heat in Atlanta to stand in line for a job fair Thursday. Authorities treated 20 people for heat exhaustion as they struggled to keep the line moving and get people moved inside.

The incredible turnout at the job fair comes on the heels of the state labor commissioner's announcement that Georgia's jobless rate rose.

The state unemployment rate increased to 10.1 percent in July from the 9.9 percent in June. The unemployment rate for African-Americans stands at 15.9 percent, far above the national rate of 9.1 percent.

July marks the 48th consecutive month that Georgia has exceeded the national unemployment rate.

The line was full of hopefuls who waited for hours in a line that wrapped around the Atlanta Technical College where the event was held.

The For the People Jobs Initiative, hosted by U.S. Reps. John Lewis and Hank Johnson and sponsored by the Congressional Black Caucus, is a series of job fairs and town halls at some of the urban areas hit hardest by unemployment and the financial crisis.

The enormous turnout in Georgia created miles of traffic that clogged southwest Atlanta.


"My feet are really killing me, and this line is really long," said job applicant Daisy Kennard. "But I'm willing to stay in this line no matter what," Kennard said.

Like Kennard, thousands of others showed up for an opportunity to meet the 90 employers who attended. the event and eager to jumpstart their job search. The fair provided job seminars such as resume writing and mortgage modification workshops.

The immense crowd at the two-day fair is another unneeded reminder of the dire state of the American economy.

"I believe the recent lack of leadership in Washington is a contributing factor to the overall lack of confidence in the economy," said Mark Butler, Georgia's labor commissioner. "Due to this lack of confidence, we are seeing a business community that is hesitant to make further investments in this economy."

The general inefficiency in Washington is precisely the reason why the Congressional Black Caucus launched the fair, said Mahen Gunaratna, a representative for Florida congresswoman Frederica Wilson, who will host Miami's Job Initiative fair.

"The Congressional Black Caucus decided to take matters into their own hands," said Gunaratna. "They are tired of Republicans' inaction that prevents bills from moving forward. This is a real tangible opportunity for our constituents."

And the people in the lines have not yet given up despite the relentless weather, miles of traffic and lines and months of unemployment.

"You got child, you got kids, you got bills," said Derric Clayton, a former security guard with three children. He's been looking for work since May. "You've got to stay somewhere. You don't want to be homeless."

Two more For the People Jobs Initiative fairs are set to take place in Miami and Los Angeles later this month.

"You have to give people a sense of hope, a sense of optimism," said Lewis, a host of the Atlanta fair. "Tell them over and over again, 'Don't give up.'"


http://abcnews.go.com/Business/thousands-show-job-fair-jobless-rate-rises/story?id=14336519


The summer of Obamamonics is in full swing. Obama cannot abandon his progressive philosophy, so the jobs are not coming back until he is gone.

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Thank God there weren't any beat downs by flash mobs

 

I wished they would have asked some of these people if they planned to vote for Ubama again.

 

People are camping out in the streets to try to find a job while Obama lives in luxury at Martha's Vineyard staying for 50,000 a week lavish style.

 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/busin...ate-republican/2011/04/25/AFPrGfkE_print.html

The reason jobs aren't coming back, isn't due to any specific idelgoly. It's because we have the republicans in the house, and the dems. in the senate.

 

Next summer...when it's good and hot, the economy has worsened, and campaign vitriol is at its peak...is when mass social calamity begins.

 

I bet most will. Sad, eh?


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The man has no shame.


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I hope you are wrong. I shudder at the news coming from the banking front. We in small businesses are already getting killed with respect to lines of credit being pulled back. It's forced us to cease hiring and expansion because our cash flow changed tremendously.

If banks have even more regulations heaped upon them, then credit gets even tighter so you will see even more potential home buyers being denied, auto loans increasing their % rate or denied and thus sales will slow and we will fall into a deeper hole than we have been in for years. It will have the intended consequences the liberals want, where people will look to the govt for the answer, when in fact, they created the problem.

 

Ubama is golfing today...How nice.

Anyone who thinks this ego driven narcissistic sociopath has any feeling about what American's are going through has to have a screw loose.

 

Obama had about two years of total Democrat control of congress and squandered it. Can you admit this much?


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Actually, things were doing pretty good when Obama had that time.

 

It's possible. What will Obama have Holder do? Will he loosen the leash?

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I swear I just do not know how he does it,,I dont...Does it remind you of anybody particular...?


''Well I admit his indifference is very impressive, but unless I see flames he's an amateur''....

 

The mythical Obama recovery? LOL!


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Intellectual dishonesty at it's finest.....LOL His approval numbers with the exception of the Bin ladden hit have been consistently straight down,,You lost Congress remember?
If that's your idea of doing fine,,,welllll......

 

Yeah. Things were doing better under him and the dems.

 

It was holding in the 40's, then when OBL was shot 50's, debt deal, it's tanking.

 

You liked the Dow at 6k?

 

There is no way this isn't purposeful. Progressive leftists like Obama have lusted for weakend state sovereingty and complete central government contol over a dependent population for decades...

and they are exploiting an economic disaster....just as FDR did...to deliver "fundamental change" via "never letting a crisis go to waste"...

by obtusely and willfully failing to recognize that their increasingly punitive regulations, the uncertainty surrounding Obamacare costs and redtape, and the certainty that their absurd monetary policies will most assuredly have to be repaid by already strapped revenue generating businesses...

are, in a nutshell, the entire problem.

 

Ya know Don Loyalty can be a beautiful thing, but when you start looking ignorant it's time to re-Load....I think many here are over due...LOL I guess to him lying and forcing something through,, something the country did not want is some sort of success, but even if he thought that didn't losing Congress tell him he was wrong?
It's like they fall down, get up,,and then walk straight into a wall.....

 

Really, I just saw an ever-worsening financial situation under Obama. I easily predicted the current summer of Obamanomics because I actually paid attention to what the man did, and not what he said.


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Excuse me, but right before Bin Ladden he was low forties,,I believe 41-42.....He needed that hit something bad...

4/15...Gallup 41.......

And by the way,,,ANYTHING under 50% is not good....

 

The DOW is like watching a poker game or sports gambling. The state of the dollar, the national debt, and unemployment figures are far more important and telling. You should have learned this by now.


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You're refering to Congress's job. Last time I checked he was the POTUS.