Monthly Labor Market Update

San Bernardino County’s job market remained relatively level in February. Nearly 5,000 jobs were added during the month, but an increase in eligible workers pushed up the unemployment rate by a fraction. Across the Inland Empire, leisure and hospitality added the most jobs (3,200), followed by construction (2,800) and private education and health services (2,600).

Youth Services success story:

Never too late for a 2nd chance

From left: WDB Chair William Sterling, Veronica Jordan from the Chino Valley Unified School District Alternative Education Center, Destiny Cruz and Bradley Gates, San Bernardino County Workforce Development Director

Destiny Cruz is living proof that when it comes to reinventing your career, and rebuilding your life, second chances can happen. At 21, she was a high school dropout, raising her two younger brothers while working the night shift so that she could take them to school. “It was really hard. I knew I needed to get my diploma,” she says now.

Through WDB-supported training and employment services for young adults, Destiny connected with Veronica Jordan, from the Chino Valley Unified School District Alternative Education Center. She earned her diploma and now is working toward getting a real estate license.

“I‘ve now gotten three certificates for real estate and will be getting my license soon. The program helped me a lot. I'm so grateful,” Destiny says. She is grateful, too, for the personal attention she received. “Whenever I needed any advice or encouragement, Veronica was always there for me.”

WDB offers eligible youth and young adults, ages 16 to 24, a variety of career and educational services designed to help enhance job skills, develop leadership qualities, explore career options, participate in adult and peer mentoring opportunities, and take advantage of work experiences. For more on these programs and services, please click here.

Message from the Chair

Helping employers find workers

William Sterling

WDB Chair

Accountability is something all of our Board members at WDB are committed to. In that regard, our newest annual numbers offer plenty to be proud of. During the most recent program year, our three America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) registered more than 12,000 client visits from local residents looking to take advantage of services such as skills assessment, identifying career paths, updating resumes and interview training. We provided training for 1,650 job seekers and were able to place 2,615 residents into new jobs.

On our Business Services side, we saved 276 jobs as a result of the consulting services we offered, entered into 288 On-The-Job Training contracts, held 29 hiring events, and welcomed 979 small businesses to one or more of our 24 workshops.

It was a good year, and we’re confident that the best is yet to come. Thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

My first job was a summer position in the office of a small manufacturing firm in Frankfurt, Germany, when I was about 15. My father had convinced me to learn typing (I know that sounds strange these days when you learn that using computer games while in school) in an evening school, where I was the youngest person and the only male. His reasoning was that knowing how to type would get me a better paying summer job than working in the printing presses of the local newspapers, being a junior life guard or working in a super market. The job certainly taught me how to show up on time at work even if it meant having to get up at 6:30 and how tedious it was to type invoices where if you made a typing mistake you had to use liquids to wipe it out (no computers then). It did make me more proficient in typing, which helped me down the road when I had to type my own academic work. Thank the force for Word documents and autocorrect.

Local employers will participate in several hiring events at the County’s America’s Job Centers of California (AJCCs) in the coming weeks:

Thursday, April 20: West Valley AJCC, 9650 9th St., Suite A, Rancho Cucamonga. 9 a.m.-noon. Register here.

Thursday, April 27: Adelanto Stadium, 12000 Stadium Way, Adelanto. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Register here.

Thursday, May 4: East Valley AJCC, 500 Inland Center Drive, Space 508, San Bernardino. 9 a.m.-noon. Register here.

Wednesday, May 17: Victor Valley College Community Job Fair,18422 Bear Valley Road, Victorville. 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Register here.

Thursday, May 18: West Valley AJCC, 9650 9th St., Suite A, Rancho Cucamonga. 9 a.m.-noon. Register here.

WDB hosts free virtual seminars throughout the week to help job seekers on topics such as interviewing skills, resume building and navigating the employment resources available during the pandemic. If you know of anyone who could use this valuable assistance, a calendar of upcoming sessions is available here.

In the meantime, here are some upcoming events and release dates:

Friday, April 21: California EDD releases its March jobs report.

Friday, May 5: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics releases its April U.S. jobs report.

Wednesday, May 10: WDB General Board mini-retreat, 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Thinkwise Credit Union, 599 N. E St., San Bernardino.

Friday, May 19: California EDD releases its April jobs report.

Visit our YouTube channel to view archived videos of our Business Services webinars, such as this one on facilitating crucial and difficult conversations in the workplace

WIOA Title I-financially assisted programs or activities are an equal opportunity employer/program. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities. For federal funding disclosure information, visit: wp.sbcounty.gov/workforce/ffd/.