San Benito dropped to sixth in the country and fourth in the
state for an area with at least 25,000 people in a survey conducted
by the Associated Press that rates each county’s economic stress
based on unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rate.
San Benito dropped to sixth in the country and fourth in the state for an area with at least 25,000 people in a survey conducted by the Associated Press that rates each county’s economic stress based on unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy rate.
The new April San Benito score is 24.7, an improvement from the March score of 27.26.
In March, the county was ranked fourth worst in the United States and third worst in California behind Imperial and Merced counties.
The number of stressed counties in the country dipped 42 percent, an 8 percent decrease from March. The average stress score was a six-month low of 10.6.
The AP index calculates the score for each county by using a 1-to-100 base scale that rates unemployment, foreclosure and bankruptcy. The higher the score, the worse the county is performing.
A county is considered stressful when its score exceeds 11.
All states saw improvement except for Louisiana and Nevada, according to the AP report.
California’s stress report improved from March’s score of 17.21 to April’s 16.56 mark. Despite the improvement, California is still ranked as the third-most-stressed state in the country.
Nevada continued to remain the most stressed state with a score of 21.97.
The least stressed state was North Dakota with a score of 4.53.
