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In the u.s. right now and that means there are 15 million stories like this one. here s mary snow. reporter: it s hard to find signs the economy is improving by looking at this line that goes on and on and on. some 2,000 people waited in the cold to apply for 250 jobs in a new hotel opening in new york. made me think of the depression, people waiting for soup. reporter: 38-year-old earl newkirk waited four and a half hours to get inside with more than 600 people ahead of him. one, two, three, four. slow down. five. reporter: once inside if anyone has an application filled out, step over here. reporter: more lines. they held this job fair for the new hotel. it s opening in march. newkirk is hoping to land an event planning position, similar to his part-time job in catering but much different than the ....
Full-time job he lost last april working for new york city social services department. we ll call you in a moment. reporter: after hours of waiting, the moment of truth. what steps do you take to ensure the work you ve done is done kreblgtly? i m detail oriented. reporter: he says this group interview some of the most contact with employers since starting the job search. how many resumes would you say you ve sent out? a thousand. reporter: a thousand? oh, easy. reporter: because newkirk works part time he doesn t collect unemployment and counting part-time workers changes the jobless picture. people focused on the 15 million americans unemployed searching but we have 9 million americans working part-time and want to work full-time. reporter: that hope for full-time work is keeping newkirk trying to land a job. he says emotions are a luxury and must focus on getting a job and couldn t hold back tears talking about his younger ....
But much different from the full-time job he lost late april working for new york city social services department. we re going to call you in the morning. reporter: after hours ever waiting, newkirk s moment of truth. what steps would you take to ensure the work you ve done has been done correctly. i m very detail oriented. reporter: new kirk says this group interview is the most contact he s had with employers since starting his job search. how many resumes would you say you sent out. 1,000. reporter: 1,000? easily. reporter: because newkirk works part-time he doesn t collect unemployment and counting part-time workers changes the jobless picture. people focused on the 15 million americans unemployed actively searching. there are another 9 million americans working part-time but want to work full time. reporter: and that pope for full-time work is keeping newcork trying to land a job. emotions are a luxury, he must focus on getting a job. ....
He couldn t hold back tears. they felt so bad, so for christmas gave me money. it s you know, i m not going to cry on camera. but yeah. not good. not good, but reporter: have you gone through savings? pretty much. reporter: now, newkirk says that the first time he got emotional since he was laid off last april saying he s trying to stay focused. there is a sign of hope, though in december s jobless report. it shows the hospitality industry actually gained jobs last month. wolf? mary snow, thanks very, very much. speaking of emotional, two mississippi sisters are free today after serving 16 years of their life sentences for armed robbery. now they re preparing for one sister to donate a kidney to the other. the conditions set for their release. stand by. soledad o brien has one of the first interviews with these two women. the first time we re hearing from them about their remarkable ....