Job fair planned for Thursday

ALBANY — People struggling to find meaningful employment will have an opportunity Thursday to meet and network with prospective employers as the city attempts to make a dent in a stubborn unemployment rate.

While statewide unemployment figures are down to 9.2 percent, Southwest Georgia numbers remain higher than the state average. Both are above the national jobless rate of 8.3 percent in January.

To help put people back to work, city officials have organized a communitywide job fair Thursday at the Albany Civic Center.

“One of the goals the City Commission has set for 2012 is to do whatever it can to reduce unemployment in the city,” City Manager James Taylor said.

Taylor said that while job fairs are far from guarantees of employment, they offer a good opportunity for job-seekers to meet with prospective employers and network.

The event will start at 8 a.m. and continue until 1 p.m. Participants are encouraged to come dressed as they would for a job interview and to be prepared to hand out resumes and contact information.

City officials say that a wide variety of industrial sectors will be represented at the event, including businesses in the health care, sales, insurance, customer service, law enforcement and communication sectors.

Human resources personnel from the local, state and federal level will also be on hand.

The event comes nearly a month after a successful job fair in Thomasville, where more than 74 employers met with more than 500 job-seekers.

For more information on the job fair, call the city’s Department of Community and Economic Development at (229) 483-7654.