THE JOBLESS RATE RISES : While Wall Street Jumps for Joy, Job Seekers Wait in Line
The number crunchers say that U.S. unemployment rose in January for the first time in a year--sending cheer to investors who reasoned that the nation’s economy has finally slowed and interest rates won’t rise further.
But job seekers in Los Angeles did not share Wall Street’s euphoria. For them, the job picture--particularly here--has been bad for some time.
“I’ll go live in D.C. or New York, if people feel like that there,” said Francisco Velasquez, who has been without a full-time job for two years. “Down here, you get to the point where there’s no hope. I get to that point sometimes.”
On Wall Street, news of rising unemployment--from 5.4% in December to 5.7% last month--sent the Dow Jones industrial average up 57.87 points while bond interest rates tumbled. And in Washington, Labor Secretary Robert Reich said the nation’s job machine is continuing to hum along at a robust pace.
Those happy sentiments were not shared by those at the Employment Development Department Avalon Service Center on South Broadway.
The job situation has “been the same for a year, but it might get even worse later down the line,” said Velasquez, a perennial job seeker who has strung together a series of part-time kitchen, landscaping and painting jobs. “If I hadn’t found these part-time jobs I’d be out on the street.”
Other job seekers at the Avalon center shared his view. Dozens of them stood patiently in line or seemed resigned to wait on folding chairs.
“It’s unfortunate that they’re relishing that people here are bad off,” said Crystal Hanley, a full-time student and mother of three who was accompanying an out-of-work friend on a visit to the unemployment office.
Alonzo Powell, a drummer who’s looking for any kind of part-time work, is confident he’ll be able to find a job quickly.
While most of his fellow job seekers were hopeful, few shared his optimism.
“Every day is more difficult,” said Antonio Casio, who is looking for a job in a restaurant. “Every day more and more people are losing their jobs and I don’t know why.”
Kay Everett, manager of the Los Angeles Job Service Center, said the flow of job seekers has been steady for about a year.
“There were a few more (jobless) claims in January than in December, but it’s not up dramatically,” she said. “We have already weathered so much.”
Arndt Twardawa, who just lost an actuarial job in Portland and came to Los Angeles to begin a new career as a financial analyst, took a surprisingly rational view of the situation.
“It’s a Catch-22,” Twardawa said. “For the people who are looking for a job and have to come down to this office, (the rise in unemployment) is not good news. But if for that very reason there’s no increase in the interest rates, then the recovery will come along faster than it otherwise would.”
But on balance, will that help more than it hurts?
“Ask me in a couple of months,” Twardawa said.
