The San Diego Monthly Employment Report (August 2016 to September 2016) shows increases in civilian labor force and employment.
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) reported a decrease in San Diego’s unemployment rate from 5.0 percent in August to 4.7 percent in September, and remains below the year-ago estimate of 4.8 percent.
“You would think the election would be impacting the employment numbers, but no,” says Phil Blair, President and CEO of Manpower Staffing/San Diego. “This is not a temporary spike due to election jobs such as poll workers and campaign staff. These are permanent government jobs. Combine this with the holiday season hiring spike we expect to see in the coming month and San Diego’s employment picture is going to continue to be strong.”
“Not only has our unemployment rate dropped from the previous month, San Diego had the most number of people participate in the labor force this September than any other year during the same period,” says Tina Ngo Bartel, Director of Business Programs and Research for the San Diego Workforce Partnership. “In September 2016, we had 1.59 million people in the labor force, compared to 1.56 million and 1.55 million in 2015 and 2014, respectively.”
The 4.7 percent unemployment rate falls below the highest September unemployment rate (10.7 percent in 2010) but remains higher than the lowest September unemployment rate (3.9 percent in 2006) experienced in the region over the last 10 years.
Government recorded the largest net month-over gain of 4,400 jobs (+4,500 jobs in state and local government education and -100 fewer jobs in federal government jobs).1 Education & Health Services experienced the second largest month-over gain with 4,000 additional jobs.
Five sectors reported month-over job losses, with Leisure & Hospitality experiencing the largest employment decline of 2,200 jobs due to the summer tourist season ending.2 Additionally, employment declined in Other Services by 2,200, Financial Activities by 1,400, and Manufacturing and Construction by 900 and 800 jobs, respectively.
Despite month-over losses in five sectors, San Diego County continues to experience year-over gains in a majority of sectors. Additionally, San Diego’s unemployment rate remains lower than the California rate of 5.3 percent.
1Employment Development Department (EDD)
2Employment Development Department (EDD)