McDonald’s made 19 new hires in Santa Barbara as part of its nationwide effort to hire 50,000 new workers on or by 4/19. Those selected came from a pool of 495 applicants. Throughout the Central Coast, the 28 different McDonald’s franchises hired 57 new workers. McDonald’s nationwide has pledged to spend $41 million giving the new employees the job skills and training to make it not just in the fast food industry, but in the job market overall.
Meanwhile, Labor Department statistics indicate that Santa Barbara’a unemployment rate in April fell to 9.6 percent, down from 10 percent in March, paralleling improvements in the job market both statewide and nationwide. Still, it remains the highest March rate of unemployment in the past 10 years.