Jul. 31--Fifth Third Bancorp plans to hire 50 employees in the Charlotte area, welcome news for a region that has been battered by financial layoffs.

The bank is focused on expanding its sales force and plans to hire people to work with small business and individual customers. It is also hiring branch managers as it prepares to open new locations in NoDa and on Tyvola Road this year.

Fifth Third is based in Cincinnati but expanded into North Carolina last summer when it bought First Charter Corp. At the time, First Charter was the largest community bank headquartered in the Charlotte area.

When Fifth Third set up shop here, it said it was interested in expanding in a fast-growing region of the country. Since then, the bank has added about 50 sales employees in North Carolina and currently has about 600 total workers throughout the state.

"We're not without our issues like everybody else, but we are very pleased with the growth we've experienced and the commitment that Fifth Third has to expand in this market," said Bob James, the chief executive of Fifth Third's N.C. affiliate.

Despite the economic downturn, he added, "North Carolina is still a great market and we just want to take advantage of that."

Thursday's announcement is good news for a city that has been losing banking jobs since last year. The region shed a 2,900 finance jobs in February, while employment in the sector held steady in March, April, May and June, according to the latest government figures.

Two of the city's biggest employers, Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., have been eliminating positions for months as they deal with a weak economy and absorb big mergers.

Both of those banks also point out that they've been hiring in certain areas, such as mortgage refinancing, and are trying to help laid-off workers find new positions within the company. Job openings at some smaller financial companies, including GMAC and Liberty National Life Insurance, have made up for some of the losses at the big banks.

James said Fifth Third is looking for candidates with strong sales backgrounds, even if they come from other sectors.

Job candidates can attend an open house on Wednesday at the bank's N.C. headquarters, 10200 David Taylor Drive in the University area. Interviews will be from 2 to 8 p.m., and registration is strongly encouraged.

To register, call 704-808-5030 and leave a message. The phone message will also direct callers to the bank's Web site: www.53.com. The "Careers" link is at the top of the home page.

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