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Fresno's unemployment rate is 2.5 times greater than any other California city its size. But then again, high unemployment is nothing new to the Central Valley. Like summer days over the century mark, we have grown accustomed to double-digit unemployment. In the year 2004 alone, more than 12 percent of our fellow Fresnans were out of work. The impact on our quality of life and morale is virtually immeasurable. What is measurable, however, is unemployment's affect on crime.
The Domino Effect
Although it's difficult to pinpoint the precise causes of the chronically high unemployment in our region, it is easy to see the impact. High unemployment leads to disproportionately high crime rates. For instance, the City of Fresno spends more of its general revenue on public safety than any other city our size in California. Sound familiar? In fact, the City of Fresno spends about 53% of its general fund on police services, which is 16% higher than the median of its peer cities in the state. At our current rate of spending and revenue collection, the City of Fresno's public safety needs will consume 100% of our general fund by 2008.
Statistics indicate that the only way to truly combat the area's high crime is to reduce unemployment levels. If we reduce the City of Fresno's unemployment rate to that of our peer cities, we could reduce our crime by as much as 30%. Given the large percentage of our budget currently absorbed by public safety, a reduction in crime would free up funds to further invest in economic and community development.
Job creation begins with an educated workforce
The obvious challenge in reducing unemployment in the Fresno Region is creating jobs. Jobs are created by supporting the launch of new businesses, expanding existing businesses, and attracting new businesses to the region. However, an often-overlooked challenge in reducing unemployment is having a job-prepared workforce, one that is literate and skilled. Unfortunately, a large percentage of Fresno's unemployed population lacks the basic skills required to get a job.
Society's transformation from an industrial economy to a knowledge-based economy is undeniable. If we are to improve the standards of living for all people in the Fresno Region, then we need to compete in the global, information-driven economy. An abundance of well qualified knowledge workers in the labor market is the cornerstone of competitiveness in the knowledge-based economy.
Knowledge workers improve the competitiveness of our existing businesses, and the availability of knowledge workers will allow the attraction of a much higher quality of industry with higher paying wages to the region.
I have a job; why should I care?
It can be easy to dismiss the impact of high unemployment and poverty in our region when we look around and see plenty of examples of economic well-being.
However, high unemployment weighs down the whole economy, which means our area businesses have to work that much harder to provide the revenue it takes to fund our schools, places of worship, non-profits, and public agencies.
The bottom line is high levels of unemployment and poverty bring everyone down. It means spending more on stop gap items like public safety and social services instead of investing in things that increase the area's overall prosperity. High unemployment means less opportunity for our children and grandchildren, lower property values and, in general, a lower quality of life for the citizens of the Fresno Region.
Imagine if everyone in the Fresno Area had valuable work skills and participated in the regional economy. Local businesses that export their products and services outside the region would compete better in the global marketplace if the area offered a highly skilled workforce, and local retail businesses would benefit from the increased amounts of discretionary income in the region.
If unemployment was reduced to 8%, per capita income in the Fresno Region would increase by 10%. Sustaining an 8% unemployment level for five years would increase per capita income by almost 40%.
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