Job Centers See Crush of People in Need

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FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — They have little in common: Ron Jones, 52, short and strong, a union carpenter with decades of work experience; and Jerome Grant, 20, tall and thin, a Jamaican immigrant with a degree in culinary arts. But the economy has pushed them to the same difficult place.

On a recent morning, they sat across from each other at a one-stop career center here, feverishly applying for two months of temporary work with United Parcel Service. The pay was $8.50 an hour. There were 150 slots, and more than 300 applicants.

“You just hope you get your name called,” Mr. Grant said, eyeing the interviewers. Mr. Jones agreed, saying, “You got to get in where you fit in.”

If a fit can be found anywhere, it would probably be here at one of 2,942 one-stop career centers that Congress established 10 years ago. They each play host to a web of federal programs for the needy or unemployed, offering training, job listings and, in most states, access to welfare programs like food stamps and unemployment insurance.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/24/us/24jobs.html?th&emc=th