Santa Cruz County unemployment more than 12 percent

The unemployment rate in Santa Cruz County rose to 12.6 percent in January, up from a revised 10.2 percent in December and 8.4 percent a year ago, the state Employment Development Department reported Thursday ...

[writer]

well I guess there's one way to make money in santa cruz:

http://tinyurl.com/bbh2m3

[Helbard]

25.7% in Watsonville!! Wow!

Isn't Interlaken just the fairgrounds?

[A tale of two counties]

Most striking is the difference between north and south county:

Aptos 300 4.60%
Aptos Hills 0 3.80%
Ben Lomond 100 4%
Boulder Creek 400 13.10%
Capitola 400 6.30%
Corralitos 0 1.10%
Day Valley 200 8.50%
Felton 0 0%
Live Oak 900 9.50%
Opal Cliffs 400 9.30%
Rio del Mar 400 6.80%
Santa Cruz city 3400 10.50%
Scotts Valley 300 5.60%
Soquel 300 8.70%
Twin Lakes 300 8.40%

Amesti 300 20.80%
Freedom 600 19.90%
Interlaken 1000 24%
Watsonville 6100 25.70%

Weighted by the proportion of unemployed in each town, north county has about 9.3% unemployment (below state average) whereas south county has about 25% unemployment (more than double the state average).

Why the huge disparity? Is this the impact of lost construction jobs, or perhaps some other sector? There must be a deeper story to tell here.

[RobtA]

Felton has zero unemployment, or is that a typo?

Unemployment is counted where people live, not where the jobs are. So if a large employer (located in an industrial area where there are no residents) gets rid of 1000 workers, the resulting unemployment is dispersed.

Teens in rich districts, living at home, might not be counted as unemployed if they look for a job but can't find one. That's because the counters don't see them. But teens living in poor districts, looking for work but not finding it, might be counted.

Remember, people who are not working are not unemployed, if they are not actively looking for work. People who are working, but at wages so low (possibly due to few hours per week) that they cannot live on it, are not unemployed.

[A tale of two counties]

RobtA wrote:

Felton has zero unemployment, or is that a typo?

The Felton number is not a typo, at least not by the Sentinel. See the "Santa Cruz County" section in http://www.calmis.ca.gov/file/lfmonth/allsubs... . Lots of other interesting county/city info in there, with large disparities within most counties.

[Mark]

The problem with the with interpreting the high numbers in Watsonville is that it is confounded by the seasonality of agricultural employment, ie there is little work to be done in the fields right now, so unemployment is high. For this very reason, every time you see the figures for US unemployment they exclude agricultural labor.
It would have been useful for the Sentinel to show us the numbers from last year, to compare what the year to year shift has been, rather than the strong seasonly influenced monthly trends we are given here.

[ptiemann]

And what's with the Corralitos number?

" Corralitos 0 1.10% "

0 people represent 1.1%? Is the total population 0 people? Why not call it 100% then?

[Oak]

When is the darn economy going to get better? Reading all this depressing stuff everyday just makes me feel like it's getting worse and not going to get better for at least a year or so. What are some folks doing to survive while they're unemployed? How many have become homeless as a result?

[BaddaBingBaddaBo ng]

Oak wrote:

When is the darn economy going to get better? Reading all this depressing stuff everyday just makes me feel like it's getting worse and not going to get better for at least a year or so. What are some folks doing to survive while they're unemployed? How many have become homeless as a result?

Where have you been ??
Since the Messiah got elected it HAS gotten worse and will get worse...better save any cash you have, stock up on canned goods....button down the hatch because it is going to be UGLY !!!

[Coonerty dynasty]

even though it was Santa Cruz county in California, it's somehow W's fault. Somehow. The brilliant people at city hall and county level will find a way to explain how it was W's fault.

[Corralitos Taxpayer]

Watsonville's will get higher. Rumor is that Home Depot on Green Valley is going to be closed.

[lil ol me]

Coonerty dynasty wrote:

even though it was Santa Cruz county in California, it's somehow W's fault. Somehow. The brilliant people at city hall and county level will find a way to explain how it was W's fault.

Where have YOU been?
Let's see...W was in charge for let's say about 7.9 years more than Obama.
And you're blaming who??

[Coonerty dynasty]

lil ol me wrote:

<quoted text>
Where have YOU been?
Let's see...W was in charge for let's say about 7.9 years more than Obama.
And you're blaming who??

put down the joint. Don't be late for your moveon.org meeting.

[Buy Local or Fair Trade]

BaddaBingBaddaBong wrote:

<quoted text>
Where have you been ??
Since the Messiah got elected it HAS gotten worse and will get worse...better save any cash you have, stock up on canned goods....button down the hatch because it is going to be UGLY !!!

This started way before Obama was elected and nothing happening yet can be blamed on him. If you want to place blame you'll need to look back to expansion of free trade and deregulated financial markets. The recent crisis has been building for decades. Free-Trade has created a global competition for jobs and cheap labor this pushed out most of the nation’s blue collar jobs to nations that could produce products for less due to reduced environmental and social standards. These jobs were replaced by jobs in the service sector where there is a far greater division between the wages of the many workers at the bottom and few at the top. When people don't make very much money they can't buy very many products and if people aren’t buying products the economy slows down. This was briefly slowed in the 90's by the tech boom but when that imploded it was sustained by credit. Greenspan, knowing we had a serious problem, dropped the interest rates far below sustainable levels, this triggered the housing boom which held off this inevitable financial crisis for a few more years but clearly couldn't be maintained. Many cashed out on their homes new found equity and just as many rushed to get involved in this exploding market. The economy felt solid but it was built on house of cards.

Right wing advocators of free markets have for years been backing their values with the idea of the "trickle down effect". Twenty years of deregulation has given these free markets time to evolve and we can now observe the effects. The trickle down argument shows its invalidity through empirical data. Money has not trickled down, on the contrary it has migrated upward. In the period between 1942-1987 the top 10% of the population made 30% of the income. This was a time of economic prosperity, the rise of the suburban class. After 1987 that number rose sharply to 40%. If you look at the top .5% of the population it is even more dramatic, they rose sharply too and at the same time, but there income quadrupled as a percentage. 1987 is a significant date. This is soon after Regan deregulated the markets. The money doesn't trickle down. It's good for the rich and bad for everyone else. So no, this is not Obama’s fault, what is happening now would be happening under McCain too. Obama is trying to solve the problem that was created by 28 years of bad decisions. Nobody knows if it’s going to work or not but nobody has any better ideas either. The only ideas coming from the right are the same old strategies that created this mess in the first place, they need some new material because their old foundation has been proven to be made of sand.

[Jeremy]

lil ol me wrote:

<quoted text>
Where have YOU been?
Let's see...W was in charge for let's say about 7.9 years more than Obama.
And you're blaming who??

Obama inherited a colossal mess from GW. Fact.
Obama also clearly doesn't know what the F he's doing. Fact.

[Counting illegals]

No statistics should include illegals. To do so legitimizes their illegal presence, taking the jobs by undercutting what would be available for lawful residents.

[Big Wave Dave]

ptiemann wrote:

And what's with the Corralitos number?
" Corralitos 0 1.10% "
0 people represent 1.1%? Is the total population 0 people? Why not call it 100% then?

No, there's plenty of people here, and I'm the one who's unemployed. I feel so lonely all of a sudden.

[Big Wave Dave]

Buy local said:"This is soon after Regan deregulated the markets. The money doesn't trickle down. It's good for the rich and bad for everyone else. So no, this is not Obama’s fault, what is happening now would be happening under McCain too. Obama is trying to solve the problem that was created by 28 years of bad decisions."

To say the problem is 28 years of bad decisions is to ASSUME that our "leaders" have our best interests at heart and the skimming of the majority of the countrys wealth was merely an accident. As was it's ending up in their (and their buddies) bank accounts. Offshore accounts, of course. I'm sure things will improve under Obama. If you feel a socialist country is an improvement.

[capitalism is my way]

As one reads these various forums it becomes increasingly obvious that the country will continue to disintegrate...most people simply don't have any insight into what this 2 month old administration is up to. If you are not yet in touch then start looking for cover because the sky is really going to fall this time...it will soon make little difference whether one wakes up at all. You can not spend your way out of debt, it is a mathematical impossibility....the inmates are in charge of the asylum.

[wtf]

i think people everyone) are OVER-REACTING!!