When the Bureau of Labor Statistics “Civilian labor force and unemployment by state and metropolitan area” for December comes out later this month, it will show that, while the national jobless rate has dropped to 4.9%, several cities in interior California still have jobless rates above 10%. Those numbers will not improve soon.
Based on December data among the cities: Bakersfield with a jobless rate of 10.2%, El Centro at 19.6%, Fresno at 10.3%, Hansford at 10.3%, Merced at 10.3%, Madera at 10.1%, and Salinas at 10.4%.
All of the cities are in an area which runs down the valley which separates the California coast from the forests and mountains near the Nevada border, and inland from Interstate 5.
The one thing these cities have in common is that they are in an area what the U.S. Drought Monitor say suffer from “exceptional drought” Over 39% of California has the same problem. The Monitor describes this kind of drought as one which has “widespread” areas of crop loss and “water emergencies” caused by sharp drops in the size of areas covered by lakes and rivers.
READ MORE: The Most Stressed Out City In Every State
Since many of these cities have attracted Latino workers, particularly for agricultural work, the droughts have crippled their job prospects, and those of others working in the agriculture industry.
The data show that although the U.S. employment rate is 4.9%, all unemployment is local. In areas of the Plains and upper Midwest, the jobless rates are below 3%. The mix of healthy industries in these states is high.
Unemployment in some of these California cities has not improved from December 2014. The drought is not going away, so the barrier to job creation will stay high
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