Southern California’s 8 million jobs sets new record

The Southern California job market hit record employment in October, defying the efforts of the Federal Reserve to cool an overheated economy with steep interest rate hikes.

My trusty spreadsheet, filled with state job figures released Friday, found bosses in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties added 109,200 workers in October — the best month for hiring since February 2021. That put a total of 8 million at work in the region, up 360,300 in 12 months and topping the 7.953 million high of November 2019.

October also marks the first time Southern California jobs exceeded February 2020’s level, the last month before COVID-19 upended the economy. The statewide job market also became “fully recovered” in October, erasing what had been a loss of 2.6 million jobs when the pandemic locked down the economy.

October’s local hiring pace was faster than the average 30,025 workers added monthly in the past year. Record employment was set in October for the local transportation/warehouses, business services and healthcare/personal services industries.

Note that October is typically busy for hirings as educators return to classrooms and holiday shopping gears up. Between 2105 and 2019, the average October added 92,200 jobs in the region.

The hiring rebound kept Southern California joblessness low at 4% in October, the same as in September. It was 6.4% a year earlier and 3.9% in February 2020, just before the pandemic struck.

Regional differences

Here’s how the job market performed in the region’s key metropolitan areas …

Los Angeles County: 4.61 million workers, 99.8% of February 2020 after adding 58,800 in a month and growing by 196,600 in a year. Unemployment? 4.5% – same as a month earlier; 6.2% a year ago; 4.3% in February 2020.

Orange County: 1.69 million workers, 100.5% of February 2020 after adding 22,800 in a month and growing by 77,600 in a year. Unemployment? 2.8% vs. 2.7% a month earlier; 4.1% a year ago; 2.8% in February 2020.

Inland Empire: record 1.69 million workers, 107% of February 2020 after adding 27,600 in a month and growing by 86,100 in a year. Unemployment? 3.9% – same as a month earlier; 5.4% a year ago; 3.9% in February 2020.

Uneven rebound

The pandemic era’s rebound in hiring has not been an even reversal, with large differences in employment recovery in key job niches. Look at four-county worker counts by key industries, ranked by size of pandemic-era recovery …

Transportation/warehouses: 123% of pre-coronavirus jobs at a record 468,900 workers. That’s up 88,300 from February 2020 after adding 10,500 last month.

Business services: 105% of pre-coronavirus jobs at a record 1,202,900 workers. That’s up 59,500 from February 2020 after adding 19,300 last month.

Healthcare, personal services: 105% of pre-coronavirus jobs at a record 1,225,600 workers. That’s up 58,200 from February 2020 after adding 15,700 last month.

Retailing: 102% of pre-virus employment at 750,800 workers. That’s up 12,600 from February 2020 after adding 12,200 last month.

Construction, real estate, finance: 101% of pre-pandemic staffing at 680,100 workers. That’s up 5,900 from February 2020 after adding 9,700 last month.

Restaurants: 99% of pre-pandemic jobs  at 676,700 workers. That’s down 4,000 from February 2020 after adding 1,300 last month.

Manufacturing: 97% of pre-virus employment at 576,500 workers. That’s down 19,900 from February 2020 after adding 1,700 last month.

Government: 95% of pre-pandemic staffing at 984,800 workers. That’s down 47,000 from February 2020 after adding 18,200 last month.

Arts, entertainment and recreation: 94% of pre-pandemic staffing at 165,000 workers. That’s down 9,900 from February 2020 after adding 4,700 last month.

Hotels: 82% of pre-virus employment at 79,000 workers. That’s down 17,900 from February 2020 after adding 1,100 last month.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com