Yule Jobs Help Balance Unemployment
Holiday surges in retail employment nearly balanced out a typical winter decline in farming jobs to keep Ventura County unemployment relatively steady in November, according to a report released Friday by the state’s Employment Development Department.
The county’s unemployment rate, 7.4% in November, showed a slight increase from the previous month but was still considerably improved from November 1995, when it had climbed to 8.4%.
In practical terms, that translates to 3,100 new jobs in Ventura County since this time last year. Analysts called the November statistics encouraging signs for the overall economy.
“It just indicates that the economic recovery is well on the way and is in its consolidating phase,” said Ali Akbari, professor at economics at Cal Lutheran University. “It indicates that the job machine is doing its job, creating more jobs.”
Doug Perron, an analyst with the state Employment Development Department in Santa Barbara, agreed.
“We’re seeing a lot of positive numbers here and very few negative ones, which is good,” he said.
In anticipation of a strong holiday selling season--most retailers do 40% of their business around Christmas--the county’s retail employers added 800 jobs at the beginning of November. Perron said December statistics, which won’t be available until January, will probably show much greater gains for the retail trade.
But as Perron warned, that surge is as short-lived as the national spending spree that inspires it. Most of those employees will be let go as soon as shoppers complete the painful post-Christmas returns phase of the retail season.
“They all understand going in that they are temporary for the Christmas season,” Perron said. “In January, stores will keep some of those folks on for inventory, but the numbers will drop and by February will have dropped even more.”
While winter is the hot season for retailers, shorter days and chilly nights mean fewer crops, resulting in a sharp decline in farm-related jobs beginning in November.
The packinghouses have closed up, avocados are barely starting to come in and Ventura County’s fields are planted with only a few select crops at this time of year, according to Rex Laird, head of Ventura County’s Farm Bureau.
“It will pick back up in February and be in full swing by March,” Laird said. “This is pretty typical.”
The only crops being harvested now are celery, some mixed vegetables--mostly lettuces--and a few specialty strawberries, he said. But the market for celery is strong right now, in part because of a cold spell affecting Arizona’s Yuma County, where much of the nation’s celery is grown. That could produce a little boom for local growers, Laird added.
In the manufacturing sector, Ventura County gained 300 jobs overall during November, but lost 100 high-technology jobs. But the drop in high-tech was not unexpected. Practical Peripherals, a Thousand Oaks company that makes computer modems, announced plans to lay off 375 employees over a period of seven months. The November unemployment statistics probably reflect the beginning of those layoffs, according to analysts.
There were about 200 more jobs created in construction during November, a trade that has seen a 5.9% increase in employment since November 1995.
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Ventura County Jobless Rate
November 1996: 7.4%
Annual Rates
1995: 7.4%
1994: 7.9%
1993: 8.8%
1992: 8.8%
Source: California Employment Development Department
