It's time to retrain...
At 8.9 percent, L.A. County's unemployment rate is high enough. But there are pockets in the San Gabriel Valley that are even higher, and that's worrisome.
El Monte, Baldwin Park and La Puente hover around 10 percent unemployment and above.
Bob Machuca, whose job it is to go out and talk to businesses for the San Gabriel Valley Economic Partnership, brought up an interesting point about those pockets.
They are part of areas where unskilled, low-wage labor is a fixture.
In good times, these workers find jobs. But in bad times, they are the first to lose them.
Everybody's hurting these days, but the bad economy can be an opportunity, he said, to bring together representatives of labor and industry to figure out ways to retrain these very workers for new work.
I agree.
About this blog
Economic Alert is a daily blog on business and the economy in the San Gabriel Valley and beyond, featuring updates and observations from the staff of the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. SGVN includes the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, Pasadena Star-News and Whittier Daily News.
Your hosts:
Kevin Smith is business editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Over the past 15 years, Smith has covered development, housing, employment, technology and financial trends for a variety of newspapers.
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Ryan Carter covers business and the economy for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group.
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Your hosts:
Kevin Smith is business editor for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group. Over the past 15 years, Smith has covered development, housing, employment, technology and financial trends for a variety of newspapers.
Ryan Carter covers business and the economy for the San Gabriel Valley Newspaper Group.
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