O.C. Adds 5,900 Jobs in December
Buoyed by robust seasonal hiring by retailers and a fledgling recovery in the long-depressed finance sector, Orange County closed out 1995 strongly by adding almost 6,000 jobs--its best December since the late 1980s.
The county’s unemployment rate for December was not released Friday by the state Employment Development Department, which said the federal government’s recent shutdown resulted in delaying that part of the monthly jobs report. Orange County’s jobless figure in November was 5.2%, one of the lowest in the state.
The partial report Friday showed non-farm employers in Orange County boosted their payrolls by 5,900 jobs between November and December, with most industries showing growth or at least holding steady.
Payroll employment in December was up 11,000 from a year earlier, reflecting the county’s modest but steady recovery.
“We ended the year on a positive note,” said Anil Puri, an economist at Cal State Fullerton. Puri cautioned that the national economy appears to be slowing down, which could affect Orange County’s recovery. But barring that, he said, the county should make steady job gains this year.
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Most of the county’s job spurt last month came in retail trade as merchants beefed up staffing for the holiday shopping season. Led by general merchandise and apparel stores, retailers added 5,200 jobs between November and December. That was 50% more than the previous year.
However, indications are that retail trade employment in Orange County will fall more sharply in January than usual. Most merchants reported disappointing sales over the holiday, consumers remain deep in debt, and even before Christmas, some retailers such as Anaheim-based ClothesTime announced they will be closing stores in Orange County and elsewhere.
“I think you’ll find a significant falloff in January,” said Tony Cherbak, a partner at Deloitte & Touche in Costa Mesa who specializes in retail. “They had a pretty rough go of it,” he said of most merchants’ holiday sales, which account for as much as 50% of some retailer’s annual revenue.
Still, retail employment in the months ahead figures to get a lift from the conversion of the Broadway department store to Macy’s as well as the opening of Bloomingdale’s in Fashion Island. “For the future, I think it still looks very bright for retail,” said Dennis DeNaut, manager of the Brea Mall.
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Perhaps the most positive aspect of December’s report came in the county’s finance, insurance and real estate sector, which had been declining virtually every month since peaking at 97,600 jobs in early 1990.
Last November, this sector posted a net increase of 300 jobs, and that was followed by a gain of 500 jobs last month. Expansion at finance companies, notably securities firms, apparently accounted for most of these recent job gains.
For example, A.G. Edwards & Sons, a national securities brokerage, opened an office in Orange in the last two months, said Mark Robles, a branch manager in Orange County. Robles added that his office in Laguna Hills is now in negotiation for larger space and would be adding more workers soon.
“We’re very optimistic about our growth here in Orange County,” Robles said, noting that the low interest rates and the strong stock market have propelled the securities industry.
The services sector in Orange County, which typically posts a decrease in employment in December, also expanded last month. The warm weather and the opening of the Irvine Entertainment Center theater complex boosted amusement and movie employment by 200 jobs. Business services, mainly temporary-help firms, continued their consistent growth, adding 600 employees last month.
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Orange County’s long-declining manufacturing sector also appears to be bottoming out. December marked the fourth straight month when factory employment has held steady. As of December, manufacturers in the county had 204,500 people on their payrolls--down 2,300 from a year earlier.
Total government employment also was unchanged last month. For the year, however, total government payrolls shrank by 1,100 from December 1994, most of it from cutbacks in county government after Orange County’s bankruptcy.
Construction was the only major sector in the county to show a noticeable decline last month, dropping 1,100 jobs, mainly because of seasonal factors. On a year-to-year basis, construction employment in the county was down 700 jobs from December 1994.
State officials said Orange County’s unemployment rate will be released in two weeks. Because statisticians use California and Los Angeles job figures in calculating unemployment rates in smaller counties, the release of jobless rates for counties such as this one typically trail the state report by two weeks.
Also, the jobless report is based on data from a survey of households--not employer payrolls--and it includes estimates for self-employed workers.
