Getting A hardest Job

COLONIE - - The U. S. Labor Department didn ' t need to tell Donna Freeman there are 6. 3 unemployed people competing for every job. She knows it firsthand. Freeman lost her job about a year ago. She ' s still looking.

" You start off touch sorry for yourself, " the Albany occupier spoken Monday at a job impartial prestige Colonie. Freeman uttered every pace she applies for a job, somebody enhanced seems to exhibit more appropriate knowledgeable.

That speaks to the stiff - - and rising - - precise of competition: Domination August of last year there were 3. 7 million unlocked jobs nationally, but by the identical term this year, the unit had fallen to 2. 4 million.

And there were 14. 9 million people looking.

Despite the grim employment statistics, many economists insist the economy is on the upswing. But they warn it likely will be awhile before companies feel confident enough to hire in significant numbers.

It certainly doesn ' t to John McGlauflin, a 28 - year - old Iraq war veteran from Niskayuna who attended Monday ' s job fair, which was held at the Marriott hotel on Wolf Road and sponsored by the Times Union.

The Labor Department, in a report released last week, said the U. S. has shed 7. 2 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007.

That includes the one held by Alex Schott.

" Downsizing, " the 25 - year - old said, explaining why she was strolling the aisles at Monday ' s fair. " But there ' s no stigma with that. It ' s something that has happened to a lot of people. "

The job fair was proof there are employers looking to hire. It included a range of companies, from Dynamic Systems Inc. in Poestenkill, which is looking for engineers, to Macy ' s, which is adding workers as it ramps up for the holidays.

But the fair was attended by about 800 people, evidence of the demand for jobs in the Capital Region, where 22, 500 people are receiving unemployment insurance, according to the state Labor Department.

" I don ' t think ( the job market ) is good at all, " said Derick Johnson, a 28 - year - old from Albany who said he was recently laid off from his job at a car dealership.

Johnson has frequently applied for work. But, he said, " it takes them a month and a half just to call you back. "