The UTD Mercury

Even though the economy is doling out lumps of coal this holiday season, the region market is performing relatively well.

Anthony Tress, 2008 graduate of UTD, has been looking for a job for the past six months.

While at UTD, he was an active member of the Collegium V honors and enrichment program studying for his degree in computer science.

"I was looking at (internships), but nothing ever came through," Tress said of his time as an undergraduate at UTD.

Tress said he really stepped up his job search since the economic crisis. He had been using primarily the web to try to score a job.

"I'm thinking I might need to walk into places now and talk to them," Tress said.

"The best thing I can say is to keep at (the job search) and try not to get too depressed. It's a pretty depressing activity," Tress said. "It's easy to interview if you're calm."

Bryan Wyatt, computer science sophomore, is relatively unaffected by the poor economy.

He has worked seasonally the past two years for Kroger and expects to be able to get his job back this holiday season.

"I know we've hired around 50 as courtesy clerks. Service-oriented industries are all still hiring," Wyatt said.

At Collin Creek Mall, only five places are listed on the mall's Web site as hiring seasonal workers out of 123 stores. Some stores are hiring though, but have it listed on their own Web site.

North Park Mall has 15 new stores open and two new stores in the works, one in November and the other in December. Other employment opportunities are available, but listed individually on stores' websites.

At Firewheel Town Center, 10 stores and one holiday program are hiring, according to the mall Web site. Only the program and three stores are listed explicitly as seasonal, however.

Evan Timmons, arts and technology junior, did not get his ideal job, but managed to stay employed over the break.

"The place (an engineering and design firm) I worked for for two years wasn't able to hire me because of the economy," Timmons said, "It's been harder this past year."

He made a deal with his work at Advanced Auto Parts in Houston last summer to work holidays as a requirement of employment.

"It wasn't my first choice, but the other place didn't have any work for me," Timmons said.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, month-by-month employment gains are about half what they were in 2007 for the Dallas-Plano-Irving area.

"There is a definite upward trend (in employment) for the Dallas-Ft. Worth-Arlington area," said an employee from Current Employment Statistics State and Area program.

Texas, especially the Dallas-region, is doing fairly well in comparison with the nation. Two of the top four regions for employment growth are in Texas as of Oct. 29, 2008.

"The largest over-the-year employment increase was recorded in Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (+55,700), followed by Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, Texas (+54,300), Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.Va. (+40,700), and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, Wash. (+33,900)," according to an economic news release from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Three towns in Texas are in the top four for largest over-the-year percentage in employment, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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