Article: Area businesses, cities feeling budget crunch

Southland businesses and cities are weathering tough financial times reflected in almost daily reports showing rising unemployment, plummeting consumer spending and a shrinking national economy.

Nationally, the unemployment rate has reached 7.6 percent, the highest level in 16 years. In the San Bernardino-Riverside-Ontario metropolitan region, that rate is a whopping 10.1 percent.

As that rate rises, the number of customers spending their paychecks at local businesses declines.

Even CO-OP Financial Services in Rancho Cucamonga has felt the effect of a struggling economy.

"Since one of our four lines of business is processing debit cards transactions, we're seeing slower year-over-year ...

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