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As the Inland Empire has been one of the hardest hit by the economic recession, it’s not surprising that it is expected to experience an extremely high rate of unemployment — the highest rate in the area in 13 years, and the highest of any large metropolitan area in the country.

The unemployment rate in the Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario areas reached 9.5% in October, 3% greater than the national rate, and 1.3% greater than the state rate of 8.2%.  Other hard hit cities in Riverside County and San Bernardino County include Corona, which has seen a large number of foreclosures, as well as Temecula and Murrieta, which have had a high number of bankruptcy filings recently.  Indeed, bankruptcy attorneys all over the Inland Empire are noticing increased bankruptcy filings, many of which involve recently unemployed clients.

The reason of these shocking numbers is mainly the local housing market collapse.  Its effects immediately impacted the construction and lending industries, and eventually the effects crept to almost every industry, including retail, manufacturing and local government.

Unemployment has driven people to search for bankruptcy lawyers in order to solve their financial problems before it’s too late, or to find other alternatives such as debt negotiation, or a modification on their loan terms.

Read a related LA Times article here