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The jobless rate in Riverside County was 15.1 percent in January, up from 14.3 percent the previous month, new figures show. About 137,600 people are unemployed in Riverside County, according to the California Employment Development Department. Riverside County's jobless figure was in line with the 15 percent unemployment rate that the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario metropolitan statistical area reported, state officials said. San Bernardino County's unemployment rate was 14.8 percent in January, up from 13.6 percent in December, the monthly labor report showed. In the Coachella Valley, unemployment rates for cities ranged from a low of 5.4 percent in Indian Wells to 29 percent in Mecca. In January, California's unemployment rate was 13.2 percent, compared with 10.6 percent for the nation, EDD reported. Read more tomorrow in The Desert Sun.

The report indicated economic outlooks do not look good and Bockman and Sirotnik agreed based on the reactions of purchasing managers.

The report indicated economic outlooks do not look good and Bockman and Sirotnik agreed based on the reactions of purchasing managers.

HELENDALE * Investigators believe the murder of an elderly Helendale man last December is linked to cockfighting and gambling, San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department officials said. While Homicide detectives would not say Jesus Rocha, 68, was holding illegal cockfights on his 10-acre property, authorities do believe he is involved in the criminal sport in some way. "It's gambling and sometimes people lose large amounts of money and that creates problems between individuals and groups of people," Cindy Beavers, spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Department, said. "In this case someone lost their life."

At more than 17 percent unemployed, the Victor Valley continued to top California's unemployment rate of 12.5 percent. Though the state added more than 32,000 non-farm payroll jobs in January, it still has the nation's fifth-highest unemployment rate, exceeding the national average of 10.6 percent, according to the state's Employment Development Department. Michigan leads the nation with an unemployment rate of 14.3 percent, according to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Adelanto continued to have the highest unemployment rate in the Victor Valley at 22.8 percent. But every city noted in the state's report suffered from double-digit unemployment percentages - most over 15 percent. Most of the 19,500 jobs lost in Riverside and San Bernardino counties from December 2009 to January 2010 were in the trade, transportation and utilities sector, which declined by 7,700 workers. Retail stores shed over 6,000 jobs as the Christmas shopping season closed, while professional and business services jobs saw a decline of 3,600 workers.

Los Angeles County reported 11.4%, Riverside 13.2%, San Bernardino 12.5% and Ventura 9.6%. Even Orange County, which historically has low unemployment, reached 8.5% in March.

Two men were found shot dead in a truck near Highway 395 and Eucalyptus Road, and a third man is fighting for his life, officials said. "He was standing in the middle of the street and screaming," said Melanie Haprov, who called 911 around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when she and her boyfriend drove up to the intersection and spotted the survivor. "He was covered in blood - his face, his whole shirt - and he was holding his stomach." When San Bernardino County Sheriff's deputies arrived, the man told them there were other victims out in the desert, according to Sgt. Doug Hubbard of the Homicide Detail. On a paved road in an undeveloped housing tract just northwest of the intersection, they found the two other men dead in a truck. The men may be from the Los Angeles area.