Joblessness may force Tulio Hernandez to cut his ties to bucolic Aguanga, a tiny, rural community he has come to relish over the past six years.

If that happens, Hernandez will join many other southwest Riverside County residents, especially construction workers, who have left their communities in search of employment.

Hernandez, his wife and two of their children who live at home expect to leave their rural setting soon for a larger area where his chances of getting work might be better. His search might lead them to another state, as Hernandez recently landed telephone interviews with firms in Texas and Colorado.

The couple hopes to arrange a "short sale" with their bank and a yet-to-be found buyer. A neighbor has lost their home to foreclosure, Hernandez said.

He spends much of his time these days scouring the Internet for jobs. The Internet has become the new reality for 53-year-old Aguanga resident and many other job seekers – in part because of the high cost of driving to distant cities.

"I feel like giving up sometimes," he said in a recent interview. 

He finds himself jobless as Riverside County’s unemployment rate has peaked at 15.3 percent, according to state statistics released for July. In June, California was home to 10 of the nation’s 12 metropolitan areas that suffered unemployment rates of 15 percent or higher, the federal Labor Department reported.

The county’s unemployment rate – one of the highest in the nation – has hit the construction industry like a sledgehammer. Because of the state’s steady population growth, the construction industry is seen as a key barometer of its economic health.

And because Riverside County’s growth surged in recent decades, construction work was one of its top employers prior to the current economic downturn.

A 15.5 percent loss in construction jobs over a one-year period that ended in June placed the Riverside-San Bernardino metropolitan area seventh in the state, statistics show. The Napa area topped the list with a 31 percent loss in construction jobs during that period.

Hernandez was hired in 2003 as a safety manager for SelectBuild Construction, Inc. – a subsidiary of the Idaho-based Building Materials Holding Corporation.

SelectBuild had projects in Riverside, San Diego, San Bernardino, Orange, Los Angeles, and Imperial counties.

When most of the company’s construction work dried up, thousands of workers lost their jobs, he said. He was let go in August 2009, and the company declared bankruptcy last year.

"It was a shock to a lot of people because Advertisement

[ Berry-Bell and Hall Mortuary ] we didn’t think the industry would crash the way it did," Hernandez said. "I was scheduled to move up the ladder to a regional position, and that vanished right away."  

Upon leaving the Navy in 1997 after about 21 years of military service, Hernandez had hoped to remain with one company until he retired. He thought SelectBuild would be that employer. He later realized that working for just one company for a decade or more was unlikely in today’s fast-changing workforce.

Hernandez said he was proud that he could afford to let his wife, Yanna, stay home and raise their son, Emilio.

Emilio, 4, and daughter Penny, who is 15, live with him and his wife. Their older children work or attend college in other states. Penny attends Hamilton High School in Anza. Emilio recently entered kindergarten.

The exodus of job-hunting families has taken its toll on school districts as well.

If the family moves, the Hemet Unified School District would lose state revenues that are allocated on a per-student basis for Emilio and Penny. Such student departures have helped fuel a sharp revenue drop for the district, and others financial losses will occur unless the economy rebounds soon, district Superintendent Steven Lowder said in a recent interview.

Hernandez said his job-loss experience and searching for new work has raised his awareness about scams. That has made Hernandez lose much of his trust for people.

Despite pessimistic thoughts, Hernandez continues to network via the Web and his friends and building industry contacts. He hopes to learn new knowledge and skills that could boost his odds of landing a job.

He recently attended a workshop at the California Institute of Earth Art and Architecture – a Mojave-based nonprofit foundation that is dedicated to research and public education of environmentally-oriented building arts. He learned about a technology that uses sandbags and barbed wire to build large shelters.

Hernandez said the difficulties of seeking employment in such a harsh economic climate have given him new insights into life.

"People have been living disposable lives," he said. "We need to be prepared for catastrophic economic events such as the one we are facing today."

People need to teach their children from an early age to appreciate what they have, he added.

"We will just have to get used to doing more with less," Hernandez said. "That’s all."

But Hernandez said he refuses to lose hope.

"I have always believed where there is a will, there is a way," he said.