Businesses may be in a hiring mood if the numbers at February’s University of Iowa spring job and internship fair were any indication.

The annual fair, held Feb. 22 in the Iowa Memorial Union, had representatives from 130 employers collecting resumes and recruiting prospective new employees and interns from among the university’s undergraduate ranks. That number was up considerably from the 108 employers that attended last spring’s fair.

In fact, the numbers were up so high that even though both the IMU Main Lounge and Sunroom were used, several organizations that wanted to attend had to be put on a wait list. D. Allan Boettger, director of the UI’s Pomerantz Career Center, says that level of interest is an indication that companies are at least thinking about hiring new workers as the economy struggles to shake off the recession.

“We think it’s a good sign that companies and organizations are making the investment to send representatives to our fair,” says Boettger. “That often means they’re planning to hire.”

Boettger says other numbers from the career center are similarly encouraging in showing an improved hiring climate. For instance, he says the number of on-campus interviews the career center arranges throughout the year is expected to rise for a third straight year. So far, the career center has hosted more than 2,800 interviews for full-time employment or internships during the current academic year, and the final number should surpass the 4,046 that were conducted in 2010-11. In 2009-10, 3,812 on campus interviews were conducted.