Southern California bosses were largely reluctant to boost staffing in May.
My trusty spreadsheet looked at Employment Development Department job counts to find 9.9 million jobs in May in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura and Imperial counties. While the region added only 6,300 workers over 12 months – that’s just 0.1% growth – May marked the highest number of workers the region has ever had.
A host of challenges face local bosses, from the war with Iran to high gasoline prices to shifting trade policies to juggling how artificial intelligence may change their industry – or not – to guessing who’ll be California’s next governor.
Here are a dozen things to know about May’s job market:
1. In the past 10 years, Southern California employment has grown at an 82,400 annual pace since 2016. So, May’s one-year job growth is 92% below the 10-year average expansion rate.
2. Statewide, there were 18.17 million jobs, up 102,900 workers in a year. Compared with the 10-year average of 171,400 yearly, that’s 40% below the 10-year norm. Note that this is record employment for California.
3. Virtually all of the California’s job market cooling is in Southern California. The region had 55% of all jobs statewide in May but only 6% of California’s employment growth.
4. Across the region’s six job markets, three added workers in May while three lost jobs.
5. The region’s employment giant, Los Angeles County, had 4.6 million workers, off 4,000 in a year. A typical month since 2016 saw 20,600 added during the previous year.
6. Orange County had 1.7 million jobs, off 5,800 in a year. That dip contrasts with 11,000 added yearly since 2016.
7. The Inland Empire had 1.7 million jobs, up 4,500 in a year. The pace since 2016 saw 32,800 added yearly. So, Inland job creation is 86% below the 10-year norm.
8. San Diego County had 1.6 million jobs, up 13,400 in a year. Pace since 2016? 16,100 added yearly. So, San Diego job creation is 17% below the 10-year norm. This is record employment for the county.
9. Ventura County had 318,100 jobs, off 2,100 in a year. That dip contrasts with 1,800 added yearly since 2016.
10. Imperial County had 60,800 jobs, up 300 in a year. Pace since 2016? 1,000 added yearly. So, Imperial’s 70% below the 10-year norm.
11. Stagnant job growth isn’t just a California thing. Nationally, bosses employed 159 million workers in May, up 503,000 from a year earlier. Yes, this is record-high employment, but ponder American job-creation since 2016: 1.5 million new positions per year. That means the U.S. hiring pace was 67% below its 10-year norm in May.
12. And California is an employment creation star, on a national level. The state accounted for 11% of all jobs across America in May – but its job growth equaled 20% of all new U.S. workers.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com
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