Yuma stress index rising

It's been almost two years since economists said the recession in America began, and an indicator in one new study shows that Yuma County is still hurting among the worst in the nation.

The study by The Associated Press shows the Stress Index, a combination of unemployment, foreclosure, bankruptcy across the U.S.

In Yuma County, the stress index is 29.14 percent. In October 2007, that number was 14.94.

In an interactive map, which can be seen online at YumaSun.com, color codes the stress index.

And with the color-coded map, it's easy to see that Yuma County is worst in the state.

But Yuma County isn't alone.

Imperial County, Calif., has 27.5 percent unemployment. That combined with a 4.47 percent foreclosure rate and a 1.44 percent bankruptcy rate, makes for a 31.74 percent stress index - 2.6 percentage points higher than Yuma County.

Yuma County Administrator Robert Pickels said the economy in Yuma County showed a lag going into the recession and there will be a lag coming out.

The unemployment component shows Yuma County at 27.2 percent, up from 14.4 in October 2007.

Pat Romant and Mercedes Mendidil work at the Yuma Private Industry Council, a local organization that specializes in helping residents in Yuma County find employment as well as continuing education classes and assistance with resumes. In addition, the team at YPIC has a program to help employers who know they will have to lay off soon, where they can come in beforehand and help the employees prepare.

Romant, operations director, and Mendidil, program administrator, both say they've seen an increase in people seeking their assistance since October 2007.

What was about 1,000 to 1,200 clients a month is now more than doubled with 2,400 to 2,500 a month, Romant said.

“With the high unemployment rate, there are just a lot of people who are out of work,” she said. “There still are jobs out there, it's just you have so many more people going out for each job.”

Pickels said the high unemployment rates are usually attributed to the seasonal work in the area, and they have seen large unemployment numbers during recessions in the '80s and '90s, but this time it's different.

“It's much more desperate than we've ever seen before,” he said.

At YPIC, they're trying to help match up the unemployed with jobs, as well as help employers offer a “gentler layoff” with assistance in filing for unemployment insurance and more.

“We're seeing more (people) that are hanging on by a thread,” Mendidil said.

She said many of the resources offered by local organizations and nonprofits who assist people in need are “tapped out.”

“We're seeing a desperate situation in that area,” she said.

More and more Yuma County residents are also finding themselves in a desperate situation when it comes to homeownership, according to the study.

In October 2007, the foreclosure rate in Yuma County was 0.36 percent; today it's 1.71 percent.

Local Realtor Vicki Bardo says the number of foreclosures in the area is increasing.

And while Bardo said she only works with one bank, where other Realtors may work with several, which may add to the numbers, she said it's been busy since the start of 2010.

“It's been very steady,” she said.

In addition to foreclosures, Bardo said she's seeing more short sales, where the sale of the home is less than what is owed on the mortgage - allowing the borrower to avoid foreclosure.

According to the study, Yuma County residents are not only experiencing more foreclosures, but there are also more people filing for bankruptcy.

In October 2007, that number was 0.28 percent.

Today, it's 0.97 percent.

Yuma businesswoman Bobbi Dawson, of Dawson Documents, is not an attorney, but she is licensed to assist people in filing the paperwork required to file for bankruptcy.

She said they received so many calls inquiring about bankruptcy services, they added assistance with the paperwork to their business.

The amount of people seeking assistance was “pretty steady for a while” around the holidays and the first of the year, she said. And while normally, she's working with one or two clients at a time, she's working with eight right now.

“That's a lot.”

But there could be a change on the horizon.

There are signs of improvement at the state level, Pickels said, with an increase in state shared sales tax up 13.7 percent from April 2009 to April this year.

He said if they continue to see that kind of increase in May and June, then it could be a trend.

But, he warns, “one month isn't going to tell us a lot.”

Even with those positive numbers, Pickels said “we're not seeing any of those things at the local level.”

He said he hopes they'll be able to do an “apple to apples” comparison in the fall, when, hopefully, the local economy improves.

“We just hope it's going to match the robust increases that we've seen at the national and state level.”

Stephanie A. Wilken can be reached at swilken@yumasun.com or 539-6857.