Information for Those Hit Hard in the Economic Slowdown

Recent labor market data released by the Employment Development Department (EDD) reveals the housing-oriented construction and mortgage-related industries have suffered steep job losses over the last year. Various forms of assistance are available to help impacted workers.

• Using eApply4UI online is the easiest and fastest way to apply for Unemployment Insurance (UI) benefits. UI offers partial wage replacement to workers who lost their job through no fault of their own while they look for another job.
• Find the One-Stop Career Center or EDD Workforce Services Office nearest you for assistance in looking for a new job, finding career training, assessing your résumé, job search workshops, and more.
• Governor Schwarzenegger has announced a $5.6 million National Emergency Grant (NEG) to retrain workers laid off in the mortgage and banking industry due to the housing slump. The federal grant money will assist them in their transition to high-demand jobs in other industries. Laid off workers from these industries can receive skills assessment, job search workshops and training opportunities at a One Stop Career Center in these designated counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, Sonoma, and Stanislaus.
• Learn more about matching transferable skills to in-demand occupations in today's economy. Recent labor market data is available to help workers in the mortgage and real estate industries identify their skills and find out about in-demand occupations that share some of the same skill requirements.
• Training to help construction workers is the focus of a new Construction Talent Transfer program announced by Governor Schwarzenegger. Organizations offering employment and training programs are eligible to apply for some of the $4.5 million in Workforce Investment Act funds to help train laid off residential construction workers for new jobs in commercial construction. Award announcements will be made in May.
• Learn more about apprenticeship opportunities through the "I Built It!" Web site at the Department of Industrial Relations. Apprenticeship is a system of learning while earning, and "learning by doing" and is utilized mainly in the skilled crafts. Apprentices are being recruited now to help build infrastructure projects laid out under the Governor's Strategic Growth Plan.