4:45pm | After showing signs of slow improvement in recent months, statistics released from the Employment Development Department this morning show that unemployment in Long Beach has grown to 14.5% as of January. The data has not been seasonally adjusted.
In December 2009, unemployment seemed to be improving in Long Beach. After several months of ranking at 13.9%, December saw unemployment improve to 13.4%. Statistics released today, however, show that things have taken a turn for the worse. Long Beach’s 14.5% unemployment rate easily surpasses the Los Angeles County rate of 13.4%.
Approximately 34,000 out of a labor force of 235,000 in Long Beach are out of work.
Update 5:45pm | Here is a really fun page I stumbled upon that shows how the state of California borrows from the Federal Government to pay unemployment because the state’s own unemployment fund has been “unsustainable” since July 2008. As of January 2010, California had borrowed more than $7.5 billion to fund unemployment.
Update 6:15pm | While the spike in local unemployment likely had to do with post-Holiday seasonal layoffs, Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network (PGWIN) executive director Bryan Rogers told the lbpost.com this afternoon that new challenges are arising in the workforce that are keeping those numbers high.
“We’re seeing certainly a lot more challenges in sectors that we hadn’t in the past,” Rogers said. “It’s a tough go across the board. You’ve definitely got more job-seekers than there are jobs. But there are jobs.”
Rogers pointed to increased efforts that the PGWIN has made to assist unemployed workers, particularly in the healthcare and manufacturing sectors. More than 9,000 local unemployed residents receive assistance at local PGWIN assistance centers. Visit Workforce Development opportunities by clicking here.
More to come…
Disclosure: lbpost.com publisher Shaun Lumachi is Chair of the Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network board of directors.