Foreclosures and Unemployment causing Kern County to be the 15th most Stressed in America
Foreclosures and unemployment are causing Kern Count to be the 15th most stressed in America. It ranks 15th as regards weakness of the economy as per the findings of Associated Press Economic Stress Index.
The readings are done each month. The financial strain across the country is measured by taking into account unemployment, foreclosures as well as bankruptcy filings. The latest findings relate to the month of May 2010. Kern has been ranked 15th with index reading of 21.14.
The unemployment rate in Kern County is 15.7% as per the findings of California Employment Development Department. Also 4.77% of its properties (residential as well as commercial) are in the foreclosure zone as per the reading of RealtyTrac. 1.78% of the residents of the county have sought bankruptcy protection as noted from income tax data and filings in court.
Kern County has a name for swinging from one point to another – ranking among the top and then going down to the bottom ten said Richard Chapman of Kern County Economic Development Corporation. Kern County will have difficulties in ranking when unemployment is factored in. He said, “We’ve got areas of the county that have had 30% unemployment for 50 years”.
Chapman also observed among the 100 mega regions, Kern has noted the second highest figures in rate of growth in the private sector over the last decade. This is based on the data of U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
But the housing numbers just cannot be played around with. Since the start of the recession at the close of 2007, Kern has suffered one of the highest rates of foreclosure in America. Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac said that Kern County has been battered by two distinct foreclosure waves.
The first kicked off with the housing boom with prices being inflated coupling with dubitable loan operations and excessive building by the developers. The second wave came from unemployment. The people first lost their jobs and then as a fall out lost their houses too.
Sharga said, “Unfortunately Kern County, like a lot of the Central Valley, had a lot of its employment tied to construction, so when the building stopped, those jobs went away”. The real estate is badly hit. People without jobs are exiting in search of greener pastures said Gail Malouf who is engaged in selling the properties for Coldwell Banker and is the head of Bakersfield Association of Realtors.
