Around 100 people lined up at the Jenny Wiley Convention Center in Floyd County as nearly 30 companies held a job fair.

Christopher Lee Baker lost his job several months ago. He says he and his family have struggled ever since.

"It's really hard out there to find work," Baker said.

Workers at the Office of Employment and Training in Prestonsburg say he is not alone. Though the state's unemployment rate is decreasing, officials say several Eastern Kentucky counties have unemployment rates above ten percent. Officials say they noticed local companies had hundreds of jobs available.

"I had just noticed that there were so many employers looking for employees, and I had so many people coming looking to file unemployment and so many people losing unemployment due to extensions ran out, that we might strike while we could," said Jerry McBrayer with the Office of Employment and Training.

McBrayer and others decided to get the employers and job-seekers together. 27 companies participated in a job fair.

"It's better than driving around and dropping off applications, filling them out, this saves a lot of time for everyone," Baker said.

Local officials believe filling all of these jobs will reduce the unemployment rate in Eastern Kentucky.

"With the high unemployment, we're trying to gain as much employment possible," McBrayer said.

"I think something will come out of this," Baker said.

Baker believes he might finally get work, thanks to this job fair.

Job fair organizers say many of the employers set-up job interviews with applicants and plan to make offers in the next few weeks.