This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Last week, census data revealed that 16.1% of L.A. County residents are living in poverty. Now data about the Inland Empire is surfacing and it's telling an even worse story: the region saw a 15.4% poverty rate in 2009. That's a lower number than L.A. County, but the difference comes in the uptick. The Inland Empire's number comes after a 3.6% increase since 2007, L.A. County's is a 0.9% increase since 2008.
The I.E.'s jump in poverty level is the third largest increase in the U.S. and is just behind Bakersfield, which saw a 4.5% increase. The LA Times notes that unemployment in Riverside County is at 14.8%, a number that won't dive into single digit territory for years.
