LABOR : High Jobless Rates Keeping Them Busy at State’s Largest Unemployment Office

It was one of those rare quiet days at the unemployment office on South Grand Avenue in Santa Ana one recent Friday.

“It’s unbelievably quiet today,” says Esperanza Estavillo, manager of the office, “which is definitely not typical.

“When this happens, you can be sure Monday is going to be bad.”

Long lines are nothing new at this office, the state Employment Development Department’s largest.

Santa Ana, with a large number of poorly educated Mexican immigrants and dozens of low-wage sweatshops, has probably the most downtrodden work force in the county--and the most people out of work.

In June, 18,000 were unemployed in this city. That’s out of a work force of 156,000, for an unemployment rate of 11.5%.

The rate has hovered in the 10% and 11% range most of the year, way above the county average, which tends to run about 6%.

“It’s the kind of unemployment rate,” says Estavillo, “that you associate with L.A., rather than Orange County.”

Some of the more affluent towns in the county run even lower rates, like Newport Beach’s 4%.

The thing that’s keeping Santa Ana going these days: retail. New stores and restaurants aren’t exactly in a mad rush to the city, but they continue to open steadily. Computer stores, discounters, restaurants--each will hire as many as 150 people at a whack, although usually it’s more like 50 or 80.

Against that, though, are the half a dozen or so businesses that close, move or lay off people in the city every month.

Most of them, says Estavillo, are part of the same old story: They’re connected to the aerospace industry, which is hurting now that defense spending is shrinking.