LEWISTON — While national reports lament the lack of jobs and the 9.1 percent unemployment rate, the picture is brighter in Lewiston-Auburn, according to local CareerCenter officials.
“We are not completely healed, CareerCenter Manager Mary LaFontaine said. “We have way more people unemployed than jobs. But the jobs have increased. We have more jobs than a year ago.”
The national unemployment for August was 9.1, the same as July. Maine’s unemployment rate for July was 7.7 percent.
Lewiston’s unemployment rate for June, the latest available, was 7.7 percent, compared to 8.2 percent the year before.
A Lewiston job fair on Sept. 15 tells part of the story, said the CareerCenter’s Paul Goding, who works with companies looking to hire.
Collectively, there will be some 30 companies offering 2,000 jobs, Goding said. That’s better than the last jobs fair in the spring, when 1,200 jobs were offered.
Two thousand jobs is “huge for this community,” LaFontaine said. “And it’s a full range of jobs, high-tech customer service to Cianbro construction jobs. I look through the classified. There’s a lot of construction jobs in the classified. Things are improving.”
Goding offered a list of companies that will be hiring at the job fair. The list includes Access Worldwide Communications in Augusta, which has jobs in technology communications, sales and information technology; Carbonite, which recently moved to Lewiston, looking to hire 50 to 100.
There’s the just-announced news that Affiliated Computer Services, a Lewiston call center, is adding 200 jobs.
“Cianbro approached us the other day,” Goding said. “They’re looking for 150 people.”
There are a lot of home health care agencies offering a range of services to the elderly and people with disabilities, who are hiring.
“We’ve got three large temp-to-hire companies who have quite a few jobs.” The kinds of jobs “are pretty well rounded” and include production and manufacturing jobs, Goding said. Other companies who are hiring include International Paper in Auburn, Lee Auto Mall, Goodwill, L.L. Bean, Lowe’s, New Balance, TD Bank and Women Unlimited. Some of the jobs, including L.L. Bean, are seasonal, “but they pay up to $14 an hour,” Goding said. “It sure beats not doing anything.”
LaFontaine said she still sees plenty of people who have been out of work for a long time, 18 months or more, who have not been able to find a job, and she sees others who’ve been able to find work.
“For me, I can tell typically within minutes of meeting someone how long someone will be unemployed by their attitude. Attitude drives everything.”
If a job seeker has the feeling of “’woe is me, all the jobs are gone,’” they’re going to be unemployed for a long time. As opposed to someone who says, ‘I’ve got good skills, I’m confident.’”
Employers want to hire the worker who is optimistic, LaFontaine said. Most people who aren’t upbeat “think they can hide it, but it oozes out. They have to figure out ways to change their attitude.”
That could include, she said, improving their education and training, taking an inventory of their skills, and staying active by connecting with other individuals and groups to help them network.
What: Lewiston Jobs Fair
When: Sept. 15, 9 a.m. to noon.
Where: CareerCenter, 5 Mollison Way.
Info: www.mainecareercenter.com/locations/region3/lewiston/index.shtml
Unemployment numbers
July 2011: Maine 7.7 percent; United States 9.1 percent
July 2010: Maine 7.8 percent; United States 9.5 percent
Lewiston: June 2011 7.7 percent; June 2010 8.2 percent
Source: Maine Department of Labor
http://www.maine.gov/labor/cwri/laus.html
Comments are no longer available on this story