California unemployment rate holds steady as more people seek jobs
California employers added 4,000 new payroll jobs last month, signaling slow but steady improvement in the state’s labor market.
Despite the gains, the unemployment rate remain unchanged at 10.9% as more workers dusted off their resumes to look for employment.
“People are more encouraged to find jobs,” said Stephen Levy, an economist with the Center for the Continuing Study of the California Economy. “As people come into the workforce it’s going to take a while to get the unemployment rate down.”
Statewide, the biggest job gains last month were found in sectors that pay better than average wages – another positive sign for the California economy. Information added 9,300 positions, followed by manufacturing (6,200), educational and health services (6,100) and professional and business services (2,800).
The Golden State’s improving economy was good enough for 42-year-old Serena Ehrlich to land a new gig as director of marketing for Mogreet, a Venice start-up that creates advertising campaigns on mobile phones and whose client list includes the television show”Glee.”She had been laid off from her last job in December.
“I am so happy,” Ehrlich said. “I will honestly tell you I am thrilled that I got a job and I am thrilled that I got a job that I like.”
The Culver City resident said that she was confident enough in the industry and field that she took the job over higher-paying offers because she believed that mobile marketing and social media had lots of potential.
“It is an industry that is poised for growth and that was part of the decision for taking this job,” Ehrlich said.
But six industry sectors cut jobs last month, underscoring just how far California has yet to go. Government was the big loser, shedding 10,300 positions in February. Trade, transportation and other utilities, other services, construction, financial activities, mining and logging also contracted.
“It’s a recovery but it’s not as fast as we’d like it,” said Gov. Jerry Brown, speaking at a Santa Barbara business conference.”But it’s coming along. And it’s gradual.”
“Look, the fact is that the Wall Street meltdown was a catastrophe that almost brought down the world financial system,” Brown continued. “The Federal Reserve had to inject trillions and trillions of dollars to keep the banking system afloat. That means we’re still recovering and picking up the casualties....It’s going to take several years of investment ... to get us back.”
With the flood of new applicants the job market remains extremely competitive, labor experts and job hunting professionals said.
“For every job that becomes available there will be five or 10 candidates that actually meet all of the technical requirements,” said Robin Toft, chief executive of the executive search firm Sanford Rose Associates in San Diego. “In SoCal it is even worse than other parts of the country, because so many people live here by choice, so it is more competitive than most geographies.”
In Los Angeles County, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was unchanged from January at 11.8%. The employment rate was not adjusted for seasonal variations in other Southland counties and was unchanged at 8.0% in Orange and 9.3% in San Diego. The unemployment rate ticked down to 9.6% from 9.8% in Ventura, and edged up to 12.5% from 12.4% in the Inland Empire.
Staff writer Ricardo Lopez in Santa Barbara contributed to this report.
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