REPORT EXPOSES L.A. RIOTS' LINGERING ILLS; COUNTY, STATE JOB RATE HITS ZENITH WHILE SOUTH CENTRAL FLAILS IN FALLOUT.

Byline: Earl O. Hutchinson

STATE and local officials smiled and congratulated themselves on the good news that employment, according to government figures in December, was at its highest level in seven years in Los Angeles County. But the bad news was that many in South Central Los Angeles are still unemployed.

In a recent report in the Economic Development Quarterly, researchers revealed that thousands of African-American and Latino workers in South Central are still out of work because of the economic carnage of the 1992 Los Angeles Riots. More than 1,000 businesses were destroyed, with damages estimated at $550 million, and a total loss of 100,000 jobs. More than 1 million people in the county were affected by the riots.

The report shattered the popular misconceptions that the destruction and economic fallout affected only South Central Los Angeles, that a vigorous rebuilding effort by private and government agencies restored most of the economy and lost jobs in the area, that the robust economic recovery in Los Angeles County during the last year or so has put most of the people that lost their jobs back, and that the residents of the riot-torn neighborhoods have benefited the most from the rebuilding efforts.

I know from personal experience, working in the area and talking with business owners, that the economic dislocation and racial fears are still a major problem. On the fifth anniversary of the riots this past April, 200 or more stores still had not been rebuilt.

I don't know whether some of the owners of these businesses started new businesses or not. Many didn't or couldn't rebuild due to lack of money, concern over safety, or inability to get loans. Many of the business owners were casualties of the federal government and private industry's failure to deliver on their over ambitious promise to provide $5 billion for small-business loans, housing construction, increased social services, and recreation programs in South Central.

Rebuild L.A., charged with securing funds for business and housing development in South Central, closed its doors in September 1996 after failing to prod public and private agencies to pony up the dollars needed to completely remake the riot-scarred neighborhoods.

The economic woes of the area were worsened by the gargantuan federal slashes in defense, corporate downsizing, and the flight of manufacturing industries from Southern California to other states, Mexico and the Pacific Rim nations.

Many of the displaced workers, the report notes, have been hit by the hard realities of color and class. Many of the displaced workers had marginal skills and education. Without a major commitment of government and corporate funds for training and education, they will remain virtually unemployable.

Then there's the question of race. Due to fear and racial bias, some employers have refused to hire black and Latino males. According to the report, more than 26,000 jobs have been created since the riots as a result of the rebuilding efforts.

Yet non-Hispanic whites and residents of the areas unaffected by the riots got nearly all of these jobs, African-Americans and Asians got the fewest. And of the nearly 40 percent of those who lost their jobs as a direct result of the riot devastation and who were still not working in 1996 (two years after the study was completed), nearly all were African-Americans and Latinos.

Despite the gloomy picture for many minority workers, it would be a mistake to view South Central Los Angeles as a wasteland of economic rot and social decay. There have been several changes in the post-riot years, signaling positive economic developments.

There are more women- and minority-owned businesses in Southern California than in any other area of the nation.

There has been a noticeable increase in the construction of low- and moderate-income housing in South Central Los Angeles. New single-family homes and apartments have been built on several burned-out sites. Several major banks and S&Ls have publicly committed more funds for minority-owned housing and business loans.

The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a Community Redevelopment Agency plan to renovate buildings, clean up and beautify streets, and secure more funding for more small-business loans in the Crenshaw and Slauson-Vermont areas. The nonprofit community group, Operation HOPE, is seeking $50 million for home lending, and the Community Development Bank has drawn up a $400 million plan for federal funding for more small businesses.

The plunge in the crime rate in Los Angeles County has been even more dramatic in South Central. This has made some corporations more willing to invest in the area. Several major grocery store chains and retailers have announced ambitious plans to build new outlets and to hire mostly residents of the area.

While this is welcome news, even greater efforts must be made by city officials and those in private industry to lay to rest the post-riot jitters of many business owners and corporate officials have about the area, and halt the damaging racial and ethnic Balkanization of Los Angeles. As the report makes clear, social turmoil and economic dislocation ultimately affects everyone who lives and works in Los Angeles County.