Better State Job Market Is Forecast
The hiring outlook in California should brighten considerably next year, but it will be far from dazzling, according to economists at Chapman University.
Their report, to be released today, forecasts that employers statewide will boost payrolls by a net 164,000 jobs next year. That would mark a dramatic increase from the meager 9,000 new jobs that were expected to be added this year and the loss of about 125,000 jobs in 2002.
Still, Chapman’s projected job growth rate for next year would be a modest 1.1%, about a third of the rate seen in the late 1990s and 2000.
Most of the gains next year are expected to be in tourism, professional and business services and the education and health industries.
The state’s manufacturing employment, which has fallen sharply in the last three years, is expected to make a small recovery in 2004, reflecting a projected double-digit increase in California exports.
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