According to Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, the event organizer, more than 375 employers gathered at the North Texas Job Fair at the Irving Convention Center to try to fill more than 15,000 open positions.
Law enforcement agencies, car dealerships, hotel chains, local businesses, and state and federal agencies set up booths to promote their opportunities.
The country added 187,000 jobs in July, according to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That figure was lower than the June report and below many economists’ forecasts. It is a sign that the economy is still recovering from the pandemic-related turmoil. The economy feels different to every individual and people can get different opinions based on what signals they are looking at.
The stock market is doing well. The country’s unemployment rate is near an all-time low. Hourly wages are increasing very slowly. The Dallas-Irving and Fort Worth-Arlington areas have unemployment rates just a tad above the state average, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.
However, high inflation continues to make items more expensive for consumers after the federal government injected money into the economy to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, build infrastructure and invest in renewable energy supplies. Higher interest rates, aimed at bringing down inflation figures, are making it harder for many to borrow money for big things like cars and houses.
“The economy as a whole is mediocre, I’d say,” said Ryan Wintermute, a recent graduate student at the University of Alabama.
Wintermute has just returned to North Richland Hills to look for a job. He’s hoping for something in IT project management. However, he is looking for a job after many tech companies have just laid off employees for overhiring during the pandemic.
“A lot of the IT industry was booming back then, and now they’re having to deal with the backlash afterwards,” Wintermute said.
“I would say the economy is in a tough state because we have accumulated so much debt,” said MP Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving.
Rep. Van Duyne brought together a large bipartisan group of lawmakers along with Rep. Roger Williams, R-Weatherford, and Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, to campaign for North Texas.
While Washington DC politics affects the big economic picture, their goal has been to be pragmatic and bring Republicans and Democrats together to try to fill positions.
“We need to hire people, I heard that. And yes, we can respond in DC, but I can also respond at home in a very pragmatic way and involve the whole community,” said Rep. Van Duyne.
Fort Worth Democratic Congressman Marc Veasey is optimistic after a difficult few years.
“Inflation is going in the right direction, which is down,” Veasey said.
One of the main focus areas of the day was how to handle the influx of new people moving to Texas because of the lower cost of living and job vacancies.
“People come here every day. It’s not going away anytime soon and they need a good career,” Veasey said.
“They’re moving to North Texas because our economy is strong,” said Sam Pack Auto Group’s Alex Sagcal.
Sagcal told NBC 5 that he saw many new arrivals in the state Monday morning.
“Three arrived just this morning. Just that story: A nice young couple, another gentleman is moving in, and another person is moving in from California,” Sagcal said.
Comments are closed.