More than 1,300 people — from spry college grads to people looking for new careers — showed up for Vicksburg’s 14th Area Job Fair Tuesday, the same day the Labor Department said U.S. employers posted in June the highest number of job openings in four years.

“I just moved here Monday,” said Stacy Jones, a Columbus native and former football player who survived cancer while enrolled at the University of Memphis. He’s hoping to use his master’s degree in counseling psychology to land a job.

“I’ve been applying and trying to snag a job,” Jones said while thumbing through a handful of applications. “I might as well give this a shot.”

Recruiters from 57 local and national employers told the Governor’s Job Fair Network of Mississippi that 924 people were interviewed and 612 job offers were made at the 14th annual event.

When all was said and done, the companies said they expected to hire 594 people within a year.

“That doesn’t mean everybody will get a job, but they have to come here to get that shot,” said Adam Todd, director of the state’s job initiative. Totals included those who visited and secured interviews with multiple employers, Todd said.

James Betts Jr., hopes to be in that number. He has a bachelor’s in public administration and political science from Mississippi State University and came to the job fair so he could talk to a person, not a machine.

“My overall goal is to be CEO of a Fortune 500 company,” Betts said. “But, going online for a job is a little annoying.”

Face time and a chance to vet the local workforce came in handy at the table staffed by Armstrong Hardwood Flooring.

“We’ve never done this locally,” said Anthony Mayhan, the flooring system- maker’s human resources manager. “Now, we have a good catalog to operate with.”

Mississippi unemployment climbed in June to 9.8 percent, up from 8.9 percent in May. In Warren County, the jobless rate was 10.9 percent, up from 10.1 percent.

This year’s job fair saw an increase from about 1,000 seeking employment at last year’s job fair.

On Tuesday, lines for jobs in the petrochemical industry were long. Cameron International Corp., which owns the former LeTourneau Technologies, had steady interest from potential workers it will consider as it transitions to rig kits instead of full-size rigs, human resources manager Clay Masters said. The line curled around a few tables at Blake International USA Rigs, a Houma, La.-based oil platform rig provider, where the lure of high-paying jobs offshore was too much for Dana Thomas to resist.

“They’ve just released permits to drill,” said Thomas, 42, a York, Ala., native and soon-to-be former educator. The 22-year Army reservist has driven to multiple job fairs in the Southeast this year and believes his best move is out of the classroom. “Education has gotten so difficult to do because of the process they try to put on you.”

The Vicksburg fair followed similar events in Jackson and the Gulf Coast and came ahead of fairs in Greenwood, Corinth, Columbus and Southaven set through Oct. 9.

Across the nation, the Labor Department said job openings rose to a seasonally adjusted 3.8 million in June, up from 3.7 million in May. That’s the most since July 2008. Layoffs fell.

The data follow Friday’s report that said employers in July added the most jobs in five months. A rise in openings could signal better hiring in the coming months. It typically takes one to three months to fill a job.

Even with the increase, hiring is competitive. There were 12.7 million unemployed people in June, or an average of 3.4 unemployed people for each job.

That’s down a bit from May and much lower than the nearly 7-to-1 ratio in July 2009, just after the recession ended. In a healthy job market, the ratio is usually around 2 to 1.

Employers have been slow to fill jobs since the recession ended in 2009, and openings have increased 57 percent. Overall hiring is up only 19 percent.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.