Teenagers Benefit From Mayor's Job Fair

The economy has job seekers in a hay day. Jobs are expected to be plentiful this spring in Tulsa with almost double the employers adding workers to their staff. <br><br>Teenagers are also in the mix.

Saturday, March 4th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

The economy has job seekers in a hay day. Jobs are expected to be plentiful this spring in Tulsa with almost double the employers adding workers to their staff.

Teenagers are also in the mix. Those looking for summer jobs have found themselves a feast of opportunities. Summer is almost here and that means the end of a school year and the start of summer jobs. Hundreds of teens are finding work through the Mayor's Job Fair where more than 50 companies are looking for workers and lots of them.

"There's just a lot of different options out there for everybody," says Student Chris Noel.

Chris and Patrick are looking for work after Bishop Kelley High School gets out for the semester. They've worked before, but the booming economy has them looking for better paying jobs.

"Ideally, a job that pays 10 an hour but that probably won't happen,â€ says Patrick McCord.

But it just might. The US Census Bureau starting pay is 10.50 an hour. Patrick and Chris say that might not sound too bad. Employers say wages have gone up because finding employees is getting tougher. That's just to fill jobs with the city of Tulsa.

The mayor says the economy isn't the only thing booming, so is her job fair.

"Because the economy is so strong we've had great response from employers," says Mayor Susan Savage.

Employers are looking for everything from lifeguards to nursing assistants to store clerks. QuikTrip says the good economy has hit their stores, last year at this time starting pay was at six dollars an hour.

"Wages went up a little we're paying 6.50 an hour for clerks," says Kevin Gleason.

Teenagers say they are looking forward to making hay while the sunshines on the job market.

If you missed the job fair, you can still call the job Hotline at 627-2700.