TAMPA - Thousands of people who showed up today looking for work - any work at all - were vivid indicators of how hard the flailing economy has hit the Tampa Bay area. The line of applicants began forming soon after 5 a.m. though the job fair wasn't scheduled to begin until five hours later.
Glenn Lawson, 52, was third in line at the Encore construction site, waiting in the pre-dawn darkness. The crowd grew rapidly until, by 10 a.m., some 2,000 people had showed up.