The first of what will likely be several G-20 demonstrations took place peacefully yet forcefully in the Hill District yesterday, as 400 people marched through the streets calling for an economic recovery that includes jobs for the unemployed.

"We are doing something that's difficult but necessary, and that's putting a face on the joblessness crisis," said Larry Holmes, a New York City-based member of the national Bail Out the People Movement, which organized the march.

Speakers at the rally invoked the work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and called for more than just new jobs for the unemployed, but also a moratorium on layoffs and foreclosures, health care for all and an end to wars.

The march preceded a meeting between many of the world's financial and government leaders Thursday and Friday at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Mr. Holmes said they are using the occasion to remind world leaders that an economic recovery without more jobs leaves people in dire conditions.

The marchers convened yesterday afternoon at Monumental Baptist Church at Wylie Avenue and Soho Street, where a collection of tents had been erected in a grass lot.

Yves Nibungco, a 21-year-old college student, drove the eight hours from Jersey City, N.J., with friends to camp out in the Hill District Saturday night. Mr. Nibungco said he came to Pittsburgh for the G-20 to protest imperialism and support the fight for more jobs.

"Driving here and enduring the cold weather [Saturday night] is a small sacrifice compared to the sacrifice of the millions around the world who have faced unemployment," he said.

About 25 people camped overnight in "Tent City" on Saturday, Mr. Holmes said. They planned to have people camping out throughout the week.

But their main event yesterday was a march that began at the Monumental Baptist Church and proceeded three-fourths of a mile through the Hill District to Freedom Corner near Mellon Arena. Police blocked traffic for demonstrators as they waved signs and chanted slogans calling for more jobs for more people.

As they marched, nine legal observers from the ACLU followed the parade route. Erin Gill, an ACLU community organizer who is in charge of the legal observers for the week, said they planned to attend all demonstrations related to the G-20.

No problems were reported during the march, but when the demonstrators reached Freedom Corner, there was a brief delay as police blocked off traffic.

Pittsburgh Police Bureau spokeswoman Diane Richard said the delay was due to the police trying to figure out the best places to block off to accommodate the direction the speakers were facing.

Witold Walczak, legal director for the ACLU of Pennsylvania, said he called city officials to complain about the delay, which he said was due to police saying the protesters did not have a valid permit for the end point.

The marchers had a valid permit, he said, which was approved last week in federal court.

After discussing the matter with Michael Kennedy, an assistant city solicitor, the police agreed to block off the streets and the march continued without any further problems or delay.

But Mr. Walczak was unhappy that he had to intervene, especially after the ACLU went to court to secure the permits.

"It makes me wonder whether this was incompetence, or something more insidious," Mr. Walczak said.

The incident was resolved quickly and the march and rally were successful, Ms. Richard said. She said they are working diligently to avoid miscommunications about permits.

Mr. Holmes said he wanted people to look beyond the logistics to the message of the marchers.

"This is not about permits. It is not about all that superficial stuff," Mr. Holmes said. "It's about suffering because of poverty and unemployment."

The main message of the demonstrators was "We Want Jobs Now," but their grievances ranged from the desire to end the death penalty to wanting to cancel student debt.

"The common denominator is that these are issues that affect working and poor people and their families," said John Parker, a member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Bail Out the People Movement. Mr. Parker began driving from California Thursday and arrived in Pittsburgh Saturday night, in time to pitch his tent in the Hill District. He said he plans to be here all week to protest the G-20.

"It's important to show leaders of finance and government that people will no longer tolerate them using the excuse of the economic crisis to enrich themselves," he said.

M.J. Muser, of Cleveland, had a much shorter trip to the protest but the same sentiment toward the G-20 meeting.

"These are the top 20 greed-mongers of the world, deciding the fates of billions from their ivory tower," she said. Ms. Muser is unemployed and is looking for a job. She said she was in Pittsburgh yesterday, and plans to come back later this week, because she believes change happens from the bottom up.