California's employment picture remains gloomy, but the state's travel and tourism industry provided a bright spot, picking up 1,500 jobs in August.

The figures, released by Visit California – the former California Travel & Tourism Commission – cited state employment data.

During the same month, California shed 8,400 jobs in posting a jobless rate of 12.1 percent.

Just two sectors – trade, transportation and utilities at 5,700 jobs and manufacturing at 1,600 – added more jobs in August, according to the state's Employment Development Department.

That the state's travel and tourism industry is posting positive job numbers in recessionary times shows tourists still factor California heavily in their travel plans. "People value travel and even in tough times, it's a way to prioritize discretionary spending," said Visit California research director Dan Mishell.

Mishell pointed to several reasons for the positive jobs numbers, including increases in room revenues, in-state travel and international travelers to California.

"Tourism is largely a service industry, and spending equates to jobs," Mishell said.

Room sales increased by 5 percent during the summer months compared to last summer.

International travelers are important because they stay longer and spend more on average than domestic travelers, Visit California officials said.

400 apply for 160 jobs

Officials at manufacturer Mori Seiki USA's Davis facility said Friday that its career fair last week drew more than 200 applicants and another 200 online job seekers and they have begun to build a pool of candidates.

The international machine tool maker plans to hire about 160 workers for its first North American manufacturing plant.

The $50 million, 200,000-square-foot facility is expected to open in August 2012 on Faraday Avenue in Davis.

"We were pleased with the candidates – we've identified at least 50 percent of those as qualified candidates to consider," said human resource manager Michele Fadling. "They were well-prepared and ready to talk about the value they could bring. They had done their homework."

Many candidates had worked at Toyota's NUMMI auto plant in Fremont before it closed or were casualties of layoffs in the Sacramento region and came to the fair with solid manufacturing experience.

The company is seeking a wide range of workers from machinists to engineers to assembly workers.

Fadling said the vast majority of job seekers at the Oct. 5 event sought factory jobs.

"There was a direct correlation to their experience with manufacturing," Fadling said. "They're familiar with that type of industry."

For information on careers at Mori Seiki, visit www.dmgmoriseikiusa.com/careers.

Job-hunting questions?

Ask Terri Carpenter, one of our "Ask the Experts" writers, who can answer your career questions online.

A jobs expert at the Sacramento Employment & Training Agency, Carpenter has expertise in résumé writing, job-skills training and career counseling.

To post your question or to view her advice to other job seekers, go to www.sacbee.com/ ask.

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