California jobless rate falls to record

Signs point to economic slowdown by next year

California’s unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in October, a record low since at least the 1970s, according to state data.

That tops a record just set in September, when unemployment was 4%.

The state jobs figures came as the Dow Jones industrial average closed Friday above 28,000 for the first time. The broader S&P 500 index and the techheavy Nasdaq also set records.

Job growth has now continued for another record — 116 months — according to the state’s Employment Development Department, which released the figures on Friday. “The number of unemployed Californians is the lowest since 1989 despite large gains in statewide population since then,” according to the department.

“These were pretty robust numbers for the state of California,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist at Bank of the West in San Francisco.

Nationally, unemployment ticked up 0.1 of a percentage point to 3.6% for October. San Francisco’s unemployment rate was 2% for October, up slightly from 1.8% in the prior month.

The data were collected through Oct. 12, so any impact from PG&E’s second round of power shutoffs and numerous wildfires wouldn’t be reflected until next month’s data, the Employment Development Department said.

The stock market hit a record high on Friday after the White House said the U.S. and China are

“Everywhere Marie Yovanovitch went turned bad. She started off in Somalia, how did that go? Then fast forward to Ukraine, where the new Ukrainian President spoke unfavorably about her in my second phone call with him. It is a U.S. President’s absolute right to appoint ambassadors.”

President Trump, in a tweet while the former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine was testifying about being threatened by him

“It’s very intimidating.”

Yovanovitch, responding to Trump’s tweet after Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, read it aloud to her

close to a trade agreement. That boosts the state’s economy, particularly as tech giants including Facebook and Google see gains and continue to expand hiring, Anderson said. Growth in older tech firms offsets struggles of unprofitable companies that have gone public this year, such as Uber, he said.

The East Bay saw the state’s biggest job gains, with payrolls growing by 2,900 in October. San Francisco added 2,800 jobs, according to an analysis by Beacon Economics in Los Angeles and UC Riverside.

Government, health care, leisure and hospitality sectors saw strong employment growth.

But a declining labor force is a concern, with the state’s workforce shrinking by 57,400 people, or 0.3%, in October compared with the same time last year, Beacon Economics and UC Riverside said.

High housing costs continue to dampen the economy by making it harder for workers to live near job centers, said Anderson of Bank of the West.

In response, some California companies have expanded to other states or moved entirely.

Bank of the West opened an office in lowercost Tempe, Ariz., in 2017 and moved some employees there from San Ramon, Anderson said.

McKesson Corp. revealed in a filing released by state officials Friday that it plans to cut 329 jobs in San Francisco as it continues to relocate workers from its former headquarters to a new one in Texas.

Anderson said the outlook for the economy remains positive, but he expects growth to weaken in 2020.

“On the surface, things look pretty strong,” he said. “We’re probably going to see some slowing in job growth going into next year.”