Radio and TV personality Geraldo Rivera hosted his radio show Wednesday from a North Texas job expo.
More than 5,000 people attended the Put Texans Back to Work Expo at the Irving Convention Center.
"The unemployment rate in Texas is slightly below the national average. That's a great thing, but there is still a lot of people -- over 7 percent of people in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex -- out of work," Rivera said.
Rivera said his goal was to match as many people as possible with the more than 120 recruiters at the expo.
"Rather than complain about joblessness or, 'Woe is us. We'll go to the politicians; how can they fix it?' we want to play a practical role in matching the employers with the employees," he said.
Dallas resident Danielle Youngblood has been a substitute teacher for two years but is unable to find a full-time teaching position. The single mother said she is now looking for other career opportunities.
"It's definitely difficult, but I'm very determined because, you know, you have to raise your family, you have to take care of your family, so I'm doing whatever I need to do to get out there and get a job," she said.
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Christus Health, which relocated its headquarters to Irving earlier this year, is an example of a large company actively hiring.
"In the next year and a half, two years, we're looking to hire about a thousand people in Irving," said Ron Croy, Christus Health recruiter.
Irving City Manager Tommy Gonzalez hoped the big turnout will lead to big hiring numbers for North Texas.
"I think this event really brings people together for an opportunity to find jobs, and you have the quality recruiters here that are able to provide that opportunity for them right here, right in their backyard," he said.
Rivera said he just got back from a similar expo in New York last week and is heading to Los Angeles next week to do it again.
The job expo was hosted by Cumulus Media Dallas. Cumulus Media Networks distributes Rivera's talk show.
