Ben Juarez, 36, of Lodi, talks about being laid off from his job as an air conditioner installer, in front of the Lodi Unemployment Office on Thursday. Juarez is currently taking air conditioner repair classes at the Institute of Technology in Modesto to become certified in different areas of AC repair. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Housing crisis hits home in Lodi

Many of the unemployed are carpenters, plumbers, landscapers, real estate workers

The housing boom was good for Ben Juarez, like so many other Lodi residents.

It meant steady work and extra cash from overtime jobs, installing air conditioners and gutters at tract homes across the region.

It meant never having to wonder how the 36-year-old father-of-eight would feed his children, or buy them gifts for their birthdays or Christmas.

Now, with the housing bust, life is full of worry for Juarez — who's been jobless since November — and for thousands like him in the area.

"We can't afford anything for (my children)," said the Stockton native, moments after he flipped open his wallet to show a picture of his four sons and four daughters.

"That's where the anxiety comes in," he added, standing in the parking lot of the state's Employment Development Department on East Oak Street.

Juarez is not alone among the local unemployed.

The EDD estimates that Lodi's jobless rate reached 7.3 percent in December, the latest figures available. That's up from 5.5 percent in December 2006 and 5.6 percent in December 2005, according to numbers provided by Liz Baker, a labor market analyst for the department.

It adds to up to more than 1,000 extra residents without work compared to the past couple years.

Because of the epic housing meltdown, many of those unemployed are local carpenters, plumbers, landscapers, real estate and finance workers.

San Joaquin County — where the jobless rate was estimated at 9.7 percent in December — lost 1,400 construction jobs and 1,000 real estate/finance positions in the past year alone, Baker noted.

That's 9 percent and 10.1 percent of the jobs in the respective local industries.

"It has greatly impacted jobs in the county," she said.

Signs of the difficult times are present at Lodi's Salvation Army.

More families are relying on the charity's food handouts and other services, Lt. Dan Williams said.

"Jobs are scarce," Williams said Thursday. "There's just not much (hiring) going on right now."

Finishing a smoke outside the Lodi employment office, Jack Kenton, 35, said he's willing to take any job available now — at a fast food restaurant or anywhere.

The Victor native said he's fallen on hard times since losing his job as a safety supervisor for a drilling company in Reno a few years ago.

He acknowledges losing that job was his fault — he said he punched a co-worker in the face for endangering the entire crew.

He's been jobless for nine months, spending part of the time homeless. He and his girlfriend, Nina Cantrell, live in Galt with Kenton's aunt. He's looked for work locally for the past two months, he said.

"I've been putting out application after application — just struggling," Kenton added. "It's just that they're not hiring or (they'll say) 'I'll call you back.' It's hard to find something."

Contact reporter Chris Nichols at chrisn@lodinews.com.