By Ray Hershel

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WGGB)-- A federal jobs fair was held Tuesday in the Tower Square Community Room in downtown Springfield.

A total of 18 federal agencies were there to provide job information to prospective applicants.

Patrick DeFalco of the Social Security Administration said jobs are available in the federal government.

"We expected there would be a lot of interested people based on the job market, but the good news is the federal government is hiring," said DeFalco.

Corey Feron, of North Granby, Conn., has been looking in the private sector for a job with no success.

"I can't find anything, I've been looking as far North as New Hampshire, Vermont, even going towards New York and traveling over an hour. It's pretty bad," he said.

B.J. Lawlor is also finding it tough to find a private sector job.

"About a year ago, I was laid off. I'm in the trucking industry, and it's been a rough time looking for a job ever since so I've been hitting all these job fairs," said Lawlor.

There are thousands of federal jobs available. You can log onto the government's Web site at www.usajobs.opm.gov to look at the jobs that are available.