Over the weekend, California’s Employment Development Department released a report showing that the state’s unemployment rate remains stagnant.
Here in Los Angeles County, the numbers tell a similar story. Though there have been signs of economic improvement, unemployment in Los Angeles County still remains above the national average.
Locally, the unemployment rate crept up to 10.9% as of the beginning of the year. Some people have been out of work for extended periods of time, with few prospects in sight. We need to do everything we can to attract new businesses and retain the valuable businesses we have – or they will flee LA County and take precious jobs with them.
As other cities and states develop more and more incentives to bring in business, we must do a better job of supporting our local businesses and making Los Angeles County more business friendly. That means we must prevent higher taxes and other anti-business measures which keep our local economy from blooming. These new employment numbers continue that cautionary tale and show us that we still have a lot of work to do to make Los Angeles County more enticing for businesses.