UNEMPLOYMENT RATE DECLINED IN MARCH
San Diego County drops to 6.9 percent, with tourism and hospitality jobs benefiting most from slow reopening
• The jobless rate in San Diego County dropped to 6.9 percent in March, nearly its lowest since the pandemic began. Job gains were led by the leisure and hospitality sector, which benefited from the easing of restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
San Diego County’s jobless rate dropped in March to 6.9 percent, nearly its lowest since the pandemic began, state labor officials reported Friday.
Employment gains were led by the leisure and hospitality sector, which benefited from curtailed statemandated restrictions aimed at stopping the spread of COVID-19.
The last time San Diego County’s jobless rate was lower was in November, when it dipped to 6.8 percent, according to data from the state Employment Development Department.
That was right before the state imposed tighter restrictions to battle a surge in the virus over the holidays. The jobless rate hit 15.9 percent, its highest point, during the pandemic last April, based on revised figures.
Jobless rates fell throughout the Golden State in March, with the statewide rate falling to 8.2 percent based on non-seasonally adjusted figures. It was still higher than the nationwide average of 6.2 percent at the same time.
It is possible that San Diego’s economy has improved much more since March. Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University, said the numbers are still from early March when the county was in the most restrictive virus restriction level, the purple tier. San Diego County is now in the orange tier, which allows for 25 percent capacity at amusement parks, cardrooms, distilleries, dance studios, gyms and many other businesses.
“The economy is moving much faster than the data,” she said.
San Diego’s hard-hit tourism and hospitality industry seemed to benefit most from the slow reopen
ing of the state. It added 5,000 jobs from February to March with positions in gambling, recreation, hotels and restaurants.
High-paying jobs in the professional and business services sector continued to grow with the addition of 3,000 jobs in a month. Jobs include work in biotech, legal services and architecture.
The upbeat monthly numbers are in contrast to the bleak year-over-year data now available. Since March 2020, when the pandemic first hit the United States, San Diego County lost 108,300 jobs. Leisure and hospitality lost, by far, the most of any industry with a reduction of 55,400 jobs.
Other big losers were the government sector, which is largely education jobs, with a reduction in 14,700 positions; the catch-all “other services” category, which includes jobs in laundry services and general repairs, lost 11,300 jobs; and educational and health services — caught up in the stoppage of most elective surgeries — lost 9,800 jobs.
A good sign for many economists: The professional and business services category added 600 jobs year-over-year. Not only are those jobs typically higher paying, but many of the jobs are in life sciences and reflect San Diego’s importance in the field. There were 39,000 jobs in scientific research in March, an 8.3 percent gain in a year.
Ray Major, chief economist at the San Diego Association of Governments, said the biotech industry benefited from investment related to COVID-19.
“Higher salaries are good for the economy,” he said, “primarily because those people are the ones that will spend more in our local economy.”
Major said good-paying jobs mean increased sales tax for purchases and will likely help struggling industries, like restaurants, with money to pay for services.
Construction gained 100 jobs during the year, a ref lection of homebuilding being declared an essential service at the start of the pandemic.
Major said he has heard from employers in industries that are reopening, particularly restaurants and hotels, that said they are having difficulty filling positions because workers are earning more on unemployment. He said it is possible the jobless rate would be lower if not for people electing to stay home. Major said it is a difficult situation because it makes financial sense to stay home for many
workers, especially if they have additional child care costs related to going back to work.
The most-recent COVID-19 stimulus bill extended enhanced employment benefits through Sept. 6, which is $300 extra a week in most cases.
Reaser said the unemployment rate, when adjusted for seasonal swings, was 6.8 percent. That compares to 8.3 percent in California and 6 percent for the nation.
State labor officials do not seasonally adjust jobless rates for individual counties,
but the unadjusted numbers show San Diego County was around the middle of the pack for unemployment rates in Southern California in March.
The rate was 10.9 percent in Los Angeles County, 6.4 percent in Orange County, 7.8 percent in San Bernardino County and 7.7 percent in Riverside County.
Who’s hiring
The San Diego Workforce Partnership has 30 job openings listed through its career portal at Workforce.org/Jobseekers. The employers with the most available jobs are
Cue Health, Fleet Science Center, Interfaith Community Services and Home Depot.
Users must create a profile at Workforce.Org to access open job positions through the career portal. Other companies hiring in San Diego that aren’t on the workforce website can be accessed directly on individual websites, such as The San Diego Padres, the San Diego Police Department, Amtrak, Ross and Petco.