Facebook has partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor and other government agencies in an attempt to help unemployed Americans find jobs using social media. Social Job Partnership will feature a Facebook Page with resources for both job seekers and employers.

Job seekers are already turning to social media to find jobs and employers are using social networks to find and screen potential candidates. The government and the social network are hoping to streamline the process and decrease the country’s 9.1% unemployment rate.

“By leveraging the power of the social web, this initiative will provide immediate, meaningful and ready-to-use information for job seekers and employers, and a modern platform to better connect them,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Solis hopes that the initiative will expand to Twitter and LinkedIn, among other social networking sites.

Facebook has already launched a Social Jobs portal, which provides easily accessible educational content and tools from its government partners. The company plans to promote the portal in the 10 states with the highest unemployment rates.

The social network also plans to conduct surveys about how job hunters, recruiters, and college career departments use social media. In its statement announcing the partnership, Facebook hinted about job listings, which would be delivered through the site at no charge. Whether a job board is in Facebook’s future is still unclear, but it would mean competing with other networks like LinkedIn.

Although this might not have a direct impact on your day-to-day operations, it’s worth keeping your eye on for recruiting efforts.

[Via: VentureBeat, Image credit: Matt Wetzler]