With a presidential election looming, the issue of the day is still the economy. California has the third highest unemployment rate in the nation, and that just counts people who are actively looking for work. It doesn’t include those who’ve been looking longer than four weeks, or the folks who are so discouraged that they’ve given up altogether.
One report shows that a worker who’s been unemployed for more than one year has less than a 10 percent chance of finding a job. That chance is even lower for those with a criminal offense on their records.
For 65 million people with an arrest or a conviction, the increased use of background checks in hiring make it that much more difficult for this population to find a job. In April, new policies were issued for employers regarding how they should consider someone’s criminal background.
