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While Frederick County Workforce Services has been "tremendously busy" helping the growing pool of job-seekers in the wake of increasing layoffs, a few employers — especially in health care, life sciences and security — are hiring, said director Laurie Holden.

"Believe it or not, there are still jobs out there," Holden said. "There are just a lot more competition for those jobs."

Holden's agency held a job fair last week where employers including Frederick Memorial Hospital and e-EndUSA, a Frederick electronics recycling company, tried to find suitable candidates amid the roughly 300 job-seekers who attended. Employers also included Admiral Security Services, State Farm Insurance, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Cianbro and SAIC-Frederick.

"Health care, security and bioscience are kinds of jobs that are still growing," Holden said. "Health is an unusually high growth field as the population ages and demand increases. We always need health care. … Security is a very high priority nationally, and that trickles down to the local level. … Biotech firms are constantly growing and expanding."

Last year, Maryland saw its first year-over-year loss in jobs since 2001, with 15,100 fewer jobs than in 2007, according to U.S. Department of Labor. The state's unemployment rate climbed to 5.8 percent in December, compared with 3.6 percent the previous year. Still, December's state jobless rate was well below the national rate of 7.2 percent.

Frederick County's unemployment rate climbed to 4.8 percent in December when 5,894 job-seekers were unemployed, according to the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. It was the highest unemployment rate in the county in at least six years.

"Unemployment rates only tell part of the story," Holden said. "There are many more people looking for work than is reflected in that. There are many more who have not filed jobless insurance claims."

Holden, who's been with the county for 20 years, said current demand for job and career assistance is the highest she's seen in seven years and that the need has only increased in the past few months. Averaging about 115 visitors per day, her agency has as many as several hundred job-seekers in one day.

Steve and Arlene Chafitz, co-owners of e-EndUSA, which recycles electronic equipment such as computers and erases stored data, attended the job fair looking for technicians, customer service agents and warehouse workers. They filled two positions that day and are still sifting through dozens of applications to complete their sales team.

"It was extremely convenient," Steve Chafitz said of the recruiting event. "We didn't have to do anything but show up and present our needs and [the job fair] delivered hundreds of people at one location. You can decide quickly who to follow up with. Would we do it again? Absolutely."

E-EndUSA, with a staff of 14, expects to add more warehouse and sales positions in the next year as demand for "e-cycling" and data destruction grows, the Chafitzes said. "We're going to need a lot more people," Steve Chafitz said.

Frederick Memorial Hospital also sought qualified workers to fill positions such as file clerks, wound care specialists, patient transport workers, security guards and housekeepers. The hospital staffs more than 2,500 people, has 110 vacant positions, and has been aggressive in hiring in recent months.

With an average of 65 hires per month, the hospital hired 59 new workers in December, said Donna Hagedorn, director of employment services.

The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, among Frederick County's top employers with 181 workers, tried to lure both skilled and entry-level candidates — from mailroom staff to call room pilots — at the fair, but found few matches, said media director Chris Dancy. The membership association has about 10 positions open.

"We are financially very sound and are very prudent with our money," Dancy said. "There is a demand for what we do. … We do some recruiting, especially for the skilled positions."

Cianbro, a steel fabrication company headquartered in Pittsfield, Maine, was seeking electricians, crane operators, project managers, engineers and welder trainees for its plant in Baltimore.

At another Frederick County Workforce Services event on Jan. 8, employers such as information technology company Widearea Systems and biotech Lonza advised job-seekers how to make their skill-set shine. Roughly 80 job-seekers filled the room, Holden said, and the networking that followed triggered several résumé exchanges.

Widearea acquired Magicsoft Corp. last year and is in the process of acquiring two more companies and plans to continue hiring, president and CEO Choon Shim told The Gazette recently.