I’ve just received new unemployment figures for California and San Bernardino County-Riverside County, and they’re not pretty.

These new historic unemployment figures should spur the Legislature to take immediate action to eliminate the unneeded and unnecessary roadblocks that are driving jobs out of our state.

After only one month of seeing unemployment rates decrease in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, along with the rest of the state, the jobless rate in the two-county area jumped to 13 percent in May.

In Riverside County the unemployment rate for March stood at 13.1 percent with 120,200 of the county’s 916,600 person labor force out of work. The employment picture in San Bernardino County was only slightly better with 112,300 unemployed out of an 875,100 workforce, for a rate of 12.8 percent.

On a statewide basis, the picture is nearly as grim. California’s unemployment rate climbed to 11.5 percent in May, the highest in modern record-keeping, the California Employment Development Department reported.

California’s unemployment rate continues to be significantly higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.4 percent. The higher job losses in our state are a direct result of job killing legislation imposed year after year by liberal legislators and regulators who apparently fail to understand basic economics facts.

Study after study, including those published by Forbes Magazine, Chief Executive Magazine and the American Legislative Exchange Council show that California continues to rank as the most expensive place to do business; even so, the Legislature continues to reject commonsense proposals that would improve our standing.

I am more resolved than ever that job creation and retention must continue to be my top priority as long as I serve in the California Legislature. Remember, the best social program is a good paying job.

Read more details about the RIVERSIDE-SAN BERNARDINO-ONTARIO METROPOLITAN STATISTICAL AREA Report

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Submitted to InlandEmpire.us by Larry Venus, Senator Dutton's office.