Los Angeles, home to a near 14 percent unemployment rate, could be in the midst of “a two-year, jobless recovery,” Los Angeles Deputy Mayor Larry Frank told Reuters.

That's some hard medicine to swallow, but the city has received about $44 million in federal stimulus funds intended to train workers and create 12,000 jobs. There are more than 270,000 people out of work.

Irena Seta, a local unemployment center coordinator, said many of her clients have been off the job for 18 months. “It will probably be in 2011 when we see a vast increase in employment,” she told the news service.

There are bright spots. People lined up for 600 jobs each worth $14 an hour and more, with health-care benefits to boot, at the new JW Marriott and Ritz Carlton hotels at L.A. Live downtown.

But one issue with new job openings is training and preparation: L.A. has about 800,000 people — nearly the population of San Francisco — living below the official poverty line. Nearly 40 percent of Angeleneos can't even read at an eighth-grade level.

“Believe it or not, there are jobs out there,” said Seta, “but a lot of people have not been trained or do not have experience in those areas.”

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