In June, Corning Asahi Video Products, 3500 E. College Ave., closed its factory.

Late last month, Murata Electronics North America, 1900 W. College Ave., announced it will stop production in late March.

Leaving thousands unemployed, the local factory closings are part of the national trend of companies moving overseas because of poor economic conditions in the United States, said Cheryl Johnson, executive director of the Private Industry Council of Centre County.

"Manufacturing is declining in our area," Johnson said.

But the manufacturing sector is one of many sectors having difficulty in the marketplace.

Jack Rayman, director of career services at Penn State, said even though the economy is improving, job creation is not. "It is a difficult job market," he said.

One factor Penn State uses to determine job market strength is how many companies come to the fall career fair, he said.

"Last fall was the lowest [for job creation] in the past 20 years," Rayman said. "The numbers [in 2003] were down from the previous year."

Rayman said a lot of companies were booked for the career fair but were forced to cancel because they were not able to hire many new employees.

"We are not heavily booked so far this semester," he said. "We don't have a single day fully booked."

Lauren Martin graduated last semester and was fortunate to find a full-time position at Ameriquest in Pittsburgh, despite the high national unemployment rate.

"I was a little worried, but I kept sending my resume everywhere," Martin said. "I just kept trying. I was persistent."

Rayman said students should be patient and flexible when looking for a job.

"Start early [in the job application process], and be prepared," he said.

Students should also be willing to do different jobs within a given industry and work in different types of organizations to find a job, Rayman said.

"You get more job experience, and you are more marketable in the future," he said.

Martin took a sales position in Ameriquest even though she had a communications degree and is happy with her decision, she said.

Rayman said Penn State prepares its students with many different skills to be successful in a variety of areas.

Susan Shields, site administrator for State College CareerLink, said factory closings in the Centre County area have been going on for years.

"The factory is not going to be seen here anymore," she said.

Shields and Johnson said employees are able to receive further education through their organizations.

However, Shields said the situation in State College is better than it may appear.

"Centre County has the lowest unemployment in the area," Shields said. "We need to look at the positives."