Jobs: California lags U. S. in recovering employment
California’s unemployment rate fell from 11.2% in August to 11% in September, according to government data released Friday — but it’s still far from the near full employment the state enjoyed at the beginning of the year, and well above the national unemployment rate of 7.9%.
Some 2,058,800 people statewide were unemployed in September, an improvement from August but up by more than 1.3 million compared to September of last year.
In the Bay Area, San Jose saw the largest payroll increase, with the number of jobs rising by 9,000 positions last month, according to analysis by Beacon Economics and the UC Riverside School of Business Center for Economic Forecasting and Development.
San Francisco added 5,400 positions while the East Bay saw 4,300 more jobs, that analysis found.
California has regained about 38% of the 2,615,800 nonfarm jobs lost during March and April directly related to the pandemic, according to the state’s Employment Development Department.
California added 96,000 nonfarm jobs between August and September, and seven out of 11 major industries showed gains, notably leisure and hospitality, which added almost 50,000 jobs. Government jobs dropped most sharply in September, with more than 14,000 jobs lost, many of which included temporary census positions.
Ben Wright, senior economist with the California Economic Forecast, an economic consulting firm, said the state unemployment report seemed “lukewarm.” Wright said if California consistently added a few hundred thousand jobs each month, it would signal a more robust recovery.
“We’re into a slow, plodding recovery,” Wright said, adding that the unemployment rate raises concerns that the state might not fully recover until 2022 or 2023.
“We’re seeing some ( industries) contracting and some stuck in neutral,” Wright said, noting hiring in hospitality as a bright spot despite outofstate tourism remaining low.
He said that information sector jobs showed only weak improvement, with 200 positions added between August and September, a worrying sign of potentially more deepseated weakness.
California’s gains accounted for roughly 15% of jobs added nationwide, according to Michael Bernick, an attorney with law firm Duane Morris LLP and former head of the state’s EDD.
Bernick called the gains “surprisingly strong,” particularly given Californians’ high number of unemployment filings compared to other states in recent months.
While the jobs added were uneven across industries, Bernick noted they were distributed across the state.
While Southern California led the charge with the most jobs added, the unemployment rate for Los Angeles county stood at a stubbornly high 15.1%.
John Johnson, CEO of Edgeworth Economics, said that while the state’s employment recovery has lagged behind the national average, its virus case rates staying where they are bodes well for a future recovery.
For some workers facing longterm unemployment, the prospect of never returning to work becomes more real with each passing day.
Lorenzia Lewis worked as a kitchen supervisor and chef at the Hyatt Place hotel in Emeryville before he was laid off in April as the pandemic shut down travel and ground the hospitality industry to a standstill.
Lewis, a member of the Unite Here Local 2850 union, said while he used to regularly make over $ 3,000 each month, his income has been cut by more than half while on unemployment and he has had to dig into retirement savings to get by.
“We need to know when we’re going to come back to work,” Lewis said, adding that he and his fellow laid off union members had not been given a timeline from their employer about when they might be able to work again.
Lewis said his wife is still working but he has one daughter still in college, and “you’ve still got to pay your bills.” He said he will turn 60 in December, and his situation has forced him to reassess his retirement plans.
Underscoring the ongoing economic pain caused by the pandemic in California, unemployment payments under state and federal programs since March to out of work people statewide topped $ 100 billion this week, according to the EDD.
Some counties, including San Francisco and others in the Bay Area, have made progress combating the virus enough to be allowed to reopen some indoor dining and other businesses at reduced capacity.
Those businesses have brought back some employees, gains which are not necessarily reflected in the state’s September jobs report, which looked at the week of Sept. 12.
Nationwide, new unemployment filings increased last week to 898,000 seasonally adjusted, an increase from 840,000 compared with the week before.
California’s unemployment claims numbers were not clear on Thursday as the state’s Employment Development Department only recently resumed accepting new claims after a twoweek halt to retool software and systems. It is trying to clear a backlog that currently stretches into next year.
The department officials began accepting new claims again last week.
Lewis, the Hyatt chef, has found refuge in playing the piano, a longtime passion that became all the more important to fill the time and bridge the financial gap.
Lewis said he began to give piano lessons when schools were closed to help make ends meet. But with school back in session remotely and many parents facing financial uncertainty, he has had to cut back how much he charges and teaches fewer students.
“I was really busy,” over the summer teaching four or five days a week and two or three students a day, Lewis said. He said he still plays most days, even with fewer students to teach.
“It was one way I can absorb some of the uncertainty of not working my normal job,” Lewis said. Along with playing music, Lewis said he strongly believes in the power of prayer.
“I pray a lot and through prayer I have hope and through hope I have a future,” he said. “And I’m not giving up.”