Valley has 6 of nation's 10 metro areas with worst rate for joblessness

Modesto Bee
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
By Marijke Rowland

The San Joaquin Valley continues to be at the heart of the nation's unemployment problem.

A report released this week by the U.S. Labor Department shows that the valley accounts for six of the 10 metropolitan areas with the worst unemployment rates in the country.

The valley cities stretch from Stockton to Visalia-Porterville and also include Modesto, Merced, Fresno and Hanford-Corcoran.

Two other California metro areas also made the bottom 10: No. 1 El Centro in Imperial County and No. 2 Yuba City in Sutter County.

"It's one of those perfect storm situations," said University of California at Merced economics Professor Shawn Kantor. "So it will take a very long time for this area to recover."

Read more: http://www.modbee.com/2011/01/05/1499504/valley-at-the-heart-of-the-problem.html#storylink=omni_popular#ixzz1AHaBV2cA

(Photo Credit: DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com)