YUMA, AZ - The jobs numbers are in, and they are not good. In Yuma county, the jobless rate jumped more than 3% from June to July. It currently sits at 31.2%.
That's nearly four times Arizona's 8.3% state unemployment number. Seasonal spikes in Imperial county as well, though not as drastic. The unemployment rate jumping from 29.7% in June to 30.8% in July, slightly more than 1% in just one month.
California's unemployment rate rose to 12% in July. The only state with higher unemployment is Nevada at 12.9%.
The Yuma Private Industry Council, or YPIC, Is the area's work force development agency. They partner with local colleges and businesses to put Yumans back in the workforce. John Morales is the Executive Director of YPIC.
He says if Yumans want to hold the higher paying jobs of today, they need to step it up.
"… for this 21st century work force, people [need to get] involved in education that focuses in on science, technology, engineering and math because that's where we're going, and that's a tough sell, because we've kind of ignored that in the past, but we really need to step that up, if we're going to be globally competitive," says Morales.
Morales says Yuma has many good paying jobs, but many times local job seekers lack the educational and skills necessary to land the position.
"We do have some large employers, but we are very dependent on the public sector. If you look at MCAS Yuma, the Yuma Proving Grounds which has many defense contractors working and the other thing that works against us is that there are jobs in Yuma, however, because we are in a 21st century economic situation, our lack of education and skill levels are keeping some people from getting into those jobs," explains Morales.
Morales adds, for many, it's a Catch 22 scenario. They would like to go to school and continue their educations, but they're out of work and need to put food on the table now. It's a situation that forces many to take the work they can get, instead of the work they want.
YPIC is hosting a Job Fair next Wednesday at the Pivot Point Conference Center from 9am to 1pm. Both hiring companies and schools will be attending. For details, go to ypic.com, or you can call YPIC at 928-329-0990.
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