Unemployment Rate Tumbles to 4.7% in O.C. : Labor: The county has its best showing in five years thanks to a growing service industry. The state’s jobless figure rises to 7.8%.
In a clear signal that Orange County’s economy is recovering, the county’s jobless rate last month fell to 4.7% as hiring in the service industry helped push the March unemployment figure to its lowest rate in five years.
The unemployment rate has been declining steadily as the economy finds its feet, but last month’s figure was a sharp drop from February’s 5.1%.
“This is dramatic,” said Anil Puri, head of the economic department at Cal State Fullerton. “This means our local economy is going like gangbusters and is on the road to recovery.”
The county’s second straight monthly drop in the jobless rate came as unemployment rose statewide to 7.8% and in Los Angeles County to 8%. The rate has been falling in Orange County since it registered 7.9% in July, 1994, analysts said.
Separately, the number of jobs in Orange County grew by 2,300 between February and March, mostly in the service and trade industries, according to the state Employment Development Department.
Despite the net job growth, analysts said they were troubled by a loss of 1,700 jobs in the manufacturing industry. Most of the cut came from layoffs in defense and the computer industries.
“While we’ve clearly had some long-term difficulties with defense, most of the other manufacturing sectors are showing stronger results,” said Todd Nicholson, president of the Industrial League of Orange County. “Based on information we’ve heard, we think there will be growth in this area later this year.”
In fact, last month’s decline came after a month of manufacturing job increases during February. In the 12 months since March, 1994, manufacturing employment in the county has fallen by 600 jobs.
Another industry with a significant 12-month decline was the combined finance, insurance and real estate sector, where the effects of a weak economy, rising interest rates and uncertainty over the fallout from the county’s December bankruptcy has resulted in a loss of 4,700 jobs.
Employment categories with notable March-to-March growth included the business services sector, which grew by 1,900, and the amusement and recreation services sector, which gained 2,000 jobs.
Some analysts have said that California’s economy--one of the last to pull out of the recession--is now on a fiscal recovery track, despite signs of renewed softness nationally.
Statewide, employers added 17,000 workers to their payrolls in March despite a national economic slowdown that nudged the U.S. unemployment rate up to 5.5% from 5.4% in February, the state employment agency reported.
Orange County is one of the brighter spots in California. Only Marin County with 4.1% and San Mateo County with 4.2% had lower jobless figures.
“This rate has been coming down steadily for the past year,” said Walter Hahn, economist at the Kenneth Leventhal & Co. accounting firm in Newport Beach. “It confirms that Orange County has been adding jobs at a pretty good clip. We’re recovering.”
But the road probably won’t be smooth.
While economists said the county’s economy was improving despite the local government’s $1.7-billion investment loss and subsequent bankruptcy filing Dec. 6, some also said that possible county government layoffs later this year will start affecting the jobless rate.
“The drag of the bankruptcy is going to start showing up in the next month or two,” Puri said.
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Employment Outlook Brightens
Orange County’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in March. The decrease represents the second straight monthly drop despite an increase in statewide unemployment to 7.8% and in Los Angeles to 8%. Unemployment rate, March 1994-1995:
March 1995: 4.7%
Source: State Employment Development Department
