With hundreds of openings, State Fair staging first jobs event ever

State Fair officials for the first time are holding a jobs fair in hopes of filling hundreds of positions before the first mini-doughnut hits the hot grease in late August.

In coordination with vendors, the hiring push is scheduled for 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Progress Center, Randall Avenue and Cosgrove Street, at the fairgrounds. The line will begin forming at 3 p.m.

Fair spokeswoman Lara Hughes said the thinking behind holding a jobs fair is to offer "one-stop shopping" for applicants, as opposed to having them come to the fair's employment office.

Hughes said the number of openings this close to the fair's starting date is "pretty much the same" as in previous years. "Openings are usually all filled by fair time," she added.

More than 600 positions will be available, fair officials said. They include ticket selling, ticket taking, parking and park-and-ride attendants, cooks, cashiers, retail sales, food and beverage servers and custodians.

Pay for most positions ranges from $9.50 to $10 per hour. Applicants must be at least 16 years old and available to work all 12 days of the fair, which runs from Aug. 25 to Sept. 5. Shifts will run from 6 to 12 hours.

Hughes said her first job at the fair was as a parking lot attendant in 1989. "I loved every second of it," she said.

Competition for available workers is pretty spirited in Minnesota. As of May, the unemployment rate in the state was 3.8 percent, according to the latest government data. The statewide rate has remained below 4 percent since August 2014.

For the Twin Cities area, the jobless rate in May was even lower, at 3.1 percent. That's the lowest it has been since November, when it was at 2.9 percent.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482