LA OPINION (Los Angeles, California)

December 4, 2008

 

Farm Labor Jobs Surge

 

LOS ANGELES — Thousands of workers are leaving jobs in construction in order to work on farms, reports La Opinión. As of this October, about 790,000 new workers entered the agricultural workforce, which experts attribute to the historical unemployment rates in other industries. At the state level, 73,000 agricultural jobs were added since 2007. Official reports indicate that the 75,000 farms and ranches in California made $36 billion last year, a figure not seen since 2003.

Clemente Aguirre, a former carpenter, told La Opinión that picking fruit for $8 an hour is more a blessing than a curse, and Jose Luis Herrera, another farm laborer, said that although he doesn't earn much, the work is stable all year long.