Last year, United States Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said the recession would end by the close of 2009 and that 2010 would "be a year of recovery."
And while most top economists throughout the nation now agree that the worst of the economic slowdown is over, many job-hunting Boston University students are not seeing results.
Wednesday is the second day of BU's two-day job fair at Agganis Arena, where students were given the opportunity to apply for a variety of positions inside the arena.
Guest services attendant Liz Calvin, a School of Management senior, explained that students could flip through several binders describing the available jobs, from which they could choose which position to apply for, fill out an application and then sit through an interview with staff members.
By 1 p.m., 35 applications had been submitted since the 11 a.m. starting time, she said.
The job positions included ushers, ticket takers, club crew, ticket sellers, cashiers, stand attendants, cooks, catering servers, bartenders, cash room attendants, porters, stand leaders and supervisors, according to the event description on the BU website.
All positions would be announced by the end of the week, she said.
Paula Villegas, a College of General Studies sophomore at the job fair, said that though some sort of employment would be beneficial, she didn't have high hopes of obtaining one on campus.
"College is expensive, and a job would help my parents so I could buy my own books, for instance," she said. "I probably won't get a job here; I'm looking for a bar-tending job and I saw someone else go have their interview, so I think I'll have to look in the city."
She added that she thought the recession was impeding job searches.
"I think the recession is definitely affecting jobs, still," she said. "It's making it a lot more difficult to find them."
School of Education graduate student Brittany Trimble agreed that finding a job was difficult, though she wasn't sure to what extent the recession was affecting the search.
"I'm looking for anything at this point because jobs are scarce," she said. "I'd rather find something around campus because I'm from Florida and don't really know the area too well."
"I'm sure finding a job is more difficult than previously but on a scale from one to 10, I don't think it's a 10," she added. "Maybe a seven?"
On the other hand, Sargent College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences senior Steven Velez said he was less concerned about the recession.
He said he didn't think it affected Boston much, though it could possibly affect other locations.
"I think it depends on the area," he said. "I don't think it'll be hard to find a job here, since I'm just looking for an entry-level position."
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