‘The economy overall is medium': Checking in at a North Texas Job Fair

More than 375 employers set up at the North Texas Job Fair at the Irving Convention Center to try and fill more than 15,000 open positions, according to Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving, the organizer of the event.

Police departments, car dealerships, hotel chains, regional companies, state and federal agencies set up booths advertising their opportunities.

According to the latest jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the country added 187,000 jobs in July. That number was smaller than the June report and under what many economists predicted. It's a sign of an economy still recovering from pandemic-related turbulence. The economy feels different for every individual and people can get different opinions based on which signals they look at.

The stock market is performing well. The country's unemployment rate is near a historic low. Hourly wages are very slowly going up. The unemployment rate for the Dallas-Irving and Fort Worth-Arlington areas is just a tick above the national average according to the Texas Workforce Commission.

However, the high inflation rate continues to make items more expensive for consumers after the Federal government pumped money into the economy to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, build infrastructure, and invest in renewable energy supplies. Higher interest rates aimed at tapping down the inflation numbers make borrowing money for large items like cars and homes more difficult for many.

"The economy overall is medium, I would say," said Ryan Wintermute, a recent graduate from the University of Alabama.

Wintermute just returned to North Richland Hills to look for a job. He's hoping for something in IT project management. However, he searches for a position after many tech companies just laid people off after over-hiring during the pandemic.

"A lot of the IT industry boomed during that and now they're kind of facing the backlash after it," said Wintermute.

"I would say the economy is in rough shape because we've had so much debt piled on," said Rep. Beth Van Duyne, R-Irving.

Rep. Van Duyne brought in a large bipartisan group of lawmakers in to promote North Texas along with Rep. Roger Williams, R- Weatherford, and Rep. Marc Veasey, D- Fort Worth.

While policies from Washington D.C. influence the big economic picture, her goal was to be pragmatic and get Republicans and Democrats together to try and fill positions.

"We need to hire people, I hear that. And yes we can respond in D.C. but I can also respond at home in a way that's very pragmatic and involves the entire community," said Rep. Van Duyne.

Democratic Congressman from Fort Worth, Marc Veasey, is optimistic after a few rocky years.

"Inflation is heading in the right direction, which is down," said Veasey.

One of the major focuses of the day was how to manage the influx of new people moving to Texas for the lower cost of living and open positions.

"We have people coming here every day. That's not going to stop any time soon and they need a good career," said Veasey.

"They're moving to North Texas because our economy is strong," said Alex Sagcal from Sam Pack Auto Group.

Sagcal tells NBC 5 he's seen a lot of newcomers to the state Monday morning.

"Just this morning there've been three that came through. That exact story: a nice young couple, another gentleman is moving in, and another person is moving from California," Sagcal said.