San Bernardino Sun: Inland Empire unemployment drops,thousands seek work

Inland Empire unemployment rate drops in September but thousands still desperately seek jobs

Andrew Edwards, Staff Writer

Posted: 10/21/2011 06:34:53 PM PDT

San Bernardino Sun

 

Friday's decline in state and local unemployment rates signified a welcome development for a region that has suffered more than most since the economy crashed about four years ago.

 
The Inland Empire jobless rate improved from 14.1 percent to 13.7 of the area's workforce in September. Nonetheless, other evidence shows the region is still fairly weak more than two years after the recession's official end.
 
Heavy competition for available jobs, the thousands of people calling a special telephone line seeking financial assistance and the arrival of the "Occupy Wall Street" movement to inland cities all signal varying aspects of an ailing local economy.

"The reality is, if you're looking to the mainstream media, the recovery has been happening for a year, but we haven't seen it on the ground," said Gary Madden, director of San Bernardino County 211.

 
San Bernardino County 211 is a telephone line for people seeking referrals to health and social service provides. It receives most of its funding from Inland Empire United Way.
 
Nationally, the recession ended in June 2009, but that was not true for the Inland Empire, as negative GDP growth in San Bernardino and Riverside counties continued through last year.
 
The hundreds of job seekers who traveled to Rancho Cucamonga this week in hope of securing employment at a new Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant franchise help illustrate how much competition there can be for jobs when opportunities arise.
 
The restaurant's arrival represents one of the few bright spots in the area's labor market, as the company needs some 200 full- and part-time employees to open.
 
Farrell's managers processed applications for three days, and nearly 1,000 hopefuls showed up in the first two, franchise company president Paul Kramer said during the third day of the hiring event.
"It ranges from someone that was in fabrication in some of the plants here in Ontario ... to

high school kids who have never had a job," Kramer said.  
"I talked to a lady who has lost her house and is living with her parents, helping them out," he added. "We're happy to be providing some opportunities."
 
The recent arrival of the "Occupy" protests to the Inland Empire may signal an increasing level of dissatisfaction with current economic conditions.
 
Protesters rallied in Redlands and Riverside on Oct. 15, and an Occupy Fontana rally is scheduled for today, according to that group's Facebook page.

The Occupy protests, which began in New York about one month ago, have been criticized by some since protestors seem to have not outlined a clear position on what kinds of reforms may improve the economy.