Yes, we know. We’re in a recession. The latest unemployment figures are grim, both statewide and locally — 12.2% for the state as a whole, 10.4% in Burbank and 11.1% in Glendale. The September numbers, released this week from the California Economic Development Department, are worse than the month prior, with the labor force shrinking by 800 in Glendale and 400 in Burbank.
The impacts are increasingly obvious. Stop by the Verdugo Jobs Center sometime. On any given weekday, hard-working people caught in this maelstrom sit at computers, revising resumes that will likely be ignored, making connections for jobs that don’t yet exist, and trying their hardest not to put their fists through the screen.
This may seem a bit personal, and it is. Not long ago, I sat in front of my computer, sending out those resumes, making those connections and hustling for any work I could find. In December, at or near the height of this hemorrhaging economy, I was laid off from my job working the website of the Hollywood Reporter. (This may give some clue as to why I’m constantly talking about our online presence.)