Fresno lags in jobs recovery; Poverty and lack of corporate employers keep area down
Fresno Bee
By Bethany Clough
... Some parts of the country are starting to see the first glimmers of a rebound in hiring -- but not Fresno. A real jobs recovery won't happen here until well after other parts of the state and country bounce back, experts say. The reason: problems that always have plagued the local economy -- including poverty and a lack of large corporate employers...
... Other parts of the state and country are beginning to see signs of hope in industries like computers and information technology, said Richard K. Green, director of the Lusk Center for Real Estate at the University of Southern California. But those industries have little presence here...
... The lack of job growth affects other areas of local economies. For example, communities that are beginning to feel a rebound are more likely to see demand for new homes sooner than in Fresno, Green said. That's important because new-home building gives a huge boost to the local economy, he said. Suddenly scores of workers -- some of them low-skill -- are earning relatively high pay.
"That puts money in people's pockets that they use in the remainder of the community," he said. "It has a very stimulative effect."...