Market Intelligence: Nearly one-third of unemployed plan return to school
| Thursday, Jul 29 2010 05:11 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Jul 29 2010 05:11 PM
The Federal Reserve's July Beige Book report on the economy pointed to continued signs of modest improvement. However, Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that every piece of good news seems to be clouded by fear of the unknown. Companies are turning in healthy profits (and sitting on a record-breaking $1 trillion in cash), but are reluctant to make big investments or add jobs. Facing longer periods of unemployment, more adults are planning to return to school and improve their marketability until the economy stabilizes and hiring resumes.
Local perspective
Although Kern County's unemployment rate dropped two consecutive months, from 18.3 percent in March to 15.7 percent in May, it continues to be well above state (11.9 percent) and national (9.3 percent) levels. Bakersfield's unemployment rate is lower than the county overall, but improvement cannot come soon enough for 11 percent of local adults who are still jobless. In fact, nearly one in three unemployed local adults plans to refocus their efforts on continuing education while they wait out the employment downturn. Twenty-nine percent of unemployed Bakersfield adults plan to return to school in the next 12 months, compared to 16 percent a year ago, and 22 percent prior to the recession (2007).
Characteristics of unemployed adults have also changed since the economic downturn. Jobless adults still tend to be young, with low income and education levels. However, compared to three years ago, a higher percentage of unemployed adults are Hispanic, age 55-64, have some college education, a household income under $25,000 and five or more adults living in the household.
Characteristic ... % of unemployed Bakersfield adults ... % change 2007 vs. 2010
Men ... 47 percent ... 0 percent
Women ... 53 percent ... 0 percent
Age 18-24 ... 55 percent ... 29 percent
Age 25-44 ... 30 percent ... -13 percent
Age 45-54 ... 10 percent ... -41 percent
Age 55-64 ... 5 percent ... 80 percent
Income under $25,000 ... 52 percent ... 31 percent
$25,000 - $49,000 ... 40 percent ... -11 percent
$50,000 - $75,000 ... 1 percent ... -99 percent
$75,000+ ... 7 percent ... 5 percent
Some high school ... 35 percent ... -20 percent
High school grad ... 49 percent ... 15 percent
Some college ... 12 percent ... 45 percent
College grad or more ... 4 percent ... -22 percent
Caucasian ... 19 percent ... -41 percent
Black/Asian/other ... 9 percent ... -49 percent
Hispanic ... 72 percent ... 34 percent
Total household size = 6+ ... 21 percent ... 15 percent
Adults in household = 5+ ... 16 percent ... 283 percent
Sources: U.S. Federal Reserve, California Employment Development Department, Scarborough Research 2007-2010, The Bakersfield Californian Market Research Department.
