Midtown Job Fair Draws Hundreds Of Applicants

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Desperate for jobs, the unemployed turned out for a job fair Friday in Midtown.

LISTEN: WCBS 880's Marla Diamond reports

Hundreds of job seekers stood in a line that stretched down the block for a minority career fair that's also been downsized, says organizer Neil Morrison.

"We used to have 60 to 70 employers. Now, we're really lucky and feel quite fortunate having 20," said Morrison.

Daryl Washington from the Bronx has been unemployed since 2009.

"Right now, I'd do anything," he said. "I don't have to do accounting, what I did. I don't care if I'm sweeping the floor of a hotel at this point, anything."

A government report out Thursday said applications for unemployment benefits fell to a five-year low.

"Where are the jobs? Tell me where they are," said Washington "If you tell me where they are, I will go to that job and do that job. It's all about survival."

While the national unemployment is around 9 percent, Morrison says the unemployment rate within the minority community is closer to 25 percent.