Job fair Thursday includes over 70 local employers

More than 70 area employers will be taking applications and hiring workers Thursday during a job fair at the Brainerd Crossroads (BX), 4011 Austin St. in Brainerd.

Employers across an array of industries are seeking to fill hundreds of available jobs amid the tightest job market in Chattanooga in 17 years. The job fair, which is organized and sponsored by the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce, is scheduled from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday at the BX.

Applicants are urged to come prepared with their résumés and dressed for job interviews.

Chattanooga area employers are trying to fill available jobs after adding 8,437 net new jobs in the past 12 months, according to state employment figures released last week. Unemployment in metro Chattnaooga fell to 3.5 percent in March — the lowest for March since 2001 and well below the comparable U.S. jobless rate of 4.1 percent in March.

With summer travel and tourism spending soon to begin and more baby boomer workers retiring every day, many local employers are eager to hire more workers to fill job vacancies and expand their staffs.

The job fair Thursday is funded under an agreement with the Tennessee Department of Labor & Workforce Development and auxiliary aids and services for disabled persons are available upon request by emailing Trish. Farmer@tn.gov.