(April 10, 2012)

Centenary co-hosts ARK-LA-TEX-MS College Career Fair

SHREVEPORT, LA — Centenary College of Louisiana is co-hosting the fourth annual ARK-LA-TEX-MS College Career Fair on Saturday, April 14, 12:00-4:30 p.m. at the Bossier Civic Center. The Fair comes at a time when Louisiana's unemployment rate has crept up to 7 percent and only 120,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, which is only half of February's gain.

"This is where careers begin," said Dennis Taylor, Senior Director for Career Services and Placement. "The ARK-LA-TEX-MS College Career Fair started in 2009 with 8 colleges and universities collaborating to leverage the individual relationships we have with local, state, and regional employers to encourage them to attend and offer jobs to our students. We now have 16 colleges and universities from four states participating."

Over 70 exhibitors, including employers and graduate schools, will be in attendance. The career fair is open to all college students, alumni, and veterans from any accredited higher education institution in the United States. Professional attire and a resume are required for admission.

Stock shares tumbled in the wake of the report that only 120,000 jobs were added to the economy in March, which is the smallest gain in five months. The reported surge in Louisiana's unemployment rate to 7 percent is up from the 6.9 percent reported in January but down from the 7.5 percent in February. The last week of March had 2,945 jobless claims compared to the 2,873 claims in the previous week. The national employment rate for February was 8 percent.

The ARK-LA-TEX-MS College Career Fair is hosted by the career services offices of Bossier Parish Community College, Centenary College, East Texas Baptist University‐TX, Grambling State University, Jarvis Christian College‐TX, Kilgore College‐TX, LeTourneau University‐TX, LSU Shreveport, Louisiana Tech University, Millsaps College‐MS, Northwestern State University, Ouachita Baptist University‐AR, Southern University Shreveport, the University of Louisiana Monroe, the University of Phoenix, and the University of Texas Tyler.