INLAND EMPIRE--Unemployment across Riverside and San Bernardino counties worsened as the year began.

Figures issued Wednesday put the January rate at an all-time record high of 15 percent.

Labor market analyst Joe Briceno says retailers took the biggest hit.

“After the holiday season, employers started laying people off.”

Those workers weren’t the only ones dropped from Inland Empire payrolls.

“Construction jobs just haven’t come back over the year. We lost over 15,000 jobs,” Briceno said.

That contributed to an overall annual job loss of an estimated 73,500.

Just under 265-thousand people were looking for work, locally, in January. (INT)

Story Date: September 2, 2010