Jobless Rate Rises Slightly
As the nation’s labor market staggered through its worst performance in two decades, Ventura County’s economy was a mixed bag last month, with total jobs growing despite an uptick in unemployment by county residents who work here or in other counties.
The county’s jobless rate rose from 4.9% in October to 5.3% in November, holding relatively firm while layoffs surged throughout the state and nation. California’s rate increased to 5.8%, and the U.S. rate after seasonal adjustments is 5.7%.
About 22,000 county workers were jobless last month, up from 20,000 in October and about the same as September’s figure of 21,800.
“It’s pretty much holding steady; the unemployment rate has been essentially the same since July,” said regional economist Mark Schniepp. “We’re not seeing any collapse in the Ventura County labor market. Manufacturing has softened, but nothing like the blood bath we’ve seen nationwide.”
Across the U.S., 800,000 jobs have been lost during the last two months, the worst decline since the 1970s.
“But we don’t see very much participation in this national slowdown in Ventura County,” Schniepp said. “We have 1,600 more jobs here than we did a year ago. So all in all, it’s a good report.”
Indeed, the number of jobs in the county increased by 400 to 298,800 during November.
That occurred while county residents who work in Los Angeles County experienced layoffs. In that county, 21,500 jobs have been lost in the manufacturing sector during the last year.
About one-fourth of Ventura County workers are employed in L.A. County.
“What’s happened in Los Angeles County is not a pretty picture,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “In manufacturing, the job losses are picking up momentum. And surprisingly, we lost jobs in the retail trade because they don’t expect a good Christmas. And we lost 10,600 in motion picture and TV production.”
Still, analysts said the November report was mostly good news for Ventura County.
“I’d be concerned if the unemployment rate went up because the jobs went down, but that’s not the case,” said Bill Watkins, director of the Economic Forecast Project at UC Santa Barbara. “The job increase is a great number considering what’s happening elsewhere.”
Ventura County’s jobless rate has climbed because its work force continues to grow, rising 500 from October to November.
“Ventura County has much more opportunity than most places in the whole country right now,” Watkins said. “The economy is doing better here, and my guess is it’s just attracting new workers.”
Ventura County’s strength is a reflection of the overall resilience of the balanced Southern California economy. For example, the unemployment rates in Orange and San Diego counties were the third and fourth best in the state at 3.4% and 3.5%, respectively.
“Compared with the state, the region looks very good,” Kyser said. “Compared with the Bay Area, it looks very healthy. The Bay Area is at 4.6%, but it was 2% a year ago. The San Jose area is up to 6.6% from 1.5% a year ago.”
Ventura County’s balanced economy produced strong gains in education employment, with about 1,100 more jobs, and in retail, with about 500 more.
But construction was down 400 jobs and manufacturing employment was off 200.
Compared with a year ago, jobs were up 1,600 in November, including 1,000 additional farm positions. But manufacturing positions are down 700 since November 2000.
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)
Ventura County Unemployment
November, 1987-2001
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Unemployed Jobless Year Workers Rate 2001 22,000 5.3% 2000 19,400 4.7% 1999 20,000 5.0% 1998 23,400 6.0% 1997 26,500 6.9% 1996 28,400 7.4% 1995 31,900 8.3% 1994 30,400 7.9% 1993 32,200 8.6% 1992 40,000 10.7% 1991 27,700 7.6% 1990 28,400 7.7% 1989 18,900 5.1% 1988 20,500 5.7% 1987 18,700 5.5%
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Source: California Employment
Development Department
