Mariposa County’s unemployment jumped again in March, by nearly two percent over the same time period last year. It was 12.6 percent in March, 2009. Last month, the figure moved to 14.5 percent. California’s rate moved to 13 percent last month, a record high level.

The Employment Development Department reports that more than 2.3 million Californians remain out of work. Of those, 362,000 had work last year at this time. In Mariposa County, 1,360 people were unemployed in March. The total workforce reported by EDD is 8,050.

Regional figures are staggering. Merced County now has a whopping 22.1 percent of its workforce out of a job. The unemployment rate there was already high at 19.9 percent in February. Only four other counties in California have rates higher than Merced’s. The rate climbed to 17.5 percent in Madera County last month.

If the the Mariposa County Unified School District is forced to go through with the teacher layoffs the board approved in early March, the impact would reverberate through Mariposa County’s already fragile economy. The total loss of income to local families and the County’s economy may top $1 million.

That means there could be $1 million less to buy gas, food and other necessary services. Because of the scale of the loss, there is concern among some in the real estate business that Mariposa County may finally see a spike in foreclosures that have plagued the Central Valley.

Economists figure that for every job lost, one and one-half to three more are threatened by the ripple effect. Even the notion that a job may be in jeopardy can be devastating to a local economy.