San Diego County’s unemployment dropped to a seasonally adjusted 3.4 percent n February with construction a standout sector. The numbers signal frustrating times for employers looking to fill skilled-job positions and good times for workers who can expect rising wages and salaries in certain areas.
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San Diego County’s jobless rate dropped slightly to 3.4 percent last month, the lowest since 2000 and reflecting the best construction jobs count in 11 years, state and local economists said Friday.
“San Diego posted exceptional job growth in February,” said Lynn Reaser, chief economist at Point Loma Nazarene University’s Fermanian Business and Economic Institute. “Nonfarm employers added 11,500 positions compared with the prior month. While some of the gain reflected increases typically posted at this time of the year, even seasonally adjusted numbers showed a robust gain of 7,000. Increases were widespread across industries.”
The state jobless rate was 4.3 percent and the U.S. rate, 4.1 percent.
“We should be expecting to see increases in wages and salaries, particularly for the skilled sectors in high demand (in the county),” she said. “This low unemployment rate should be giving rise to larger raises for many working individuals in the region.”
Looking toward the rest of the year, Reaser predicted employers will have a hard time filling jobs, from engineers to roofers.
A standout in job growth last month was construction, which added 2,900 jobs last month and 5,200 year-over-year to reach 81,800.
That’s the highest since 82,400 in November 2007 as the Great Recession eroded housing demand. Construction jobs had peaked at 95,100 in January 2006 and bottomed out at 53,700 in January 2011.
State analysts did not offer any explanation for the construction boost, but Reaser said it reflects an ongoing demand for housing as well as public and private nonresidential activity.
The Associated General Contractors of America said national construction jobs rose as well last month, up 61,000 month-over-month and 254,000 year-over-year to reach nearly 7.2 million. That total is approaching the all-time peak of 7.7 million set in April 2006 and is far above the cyclical bottom reached in January 2011 of 5.4 million.
“The construction industry continues to add employees in most of the nation, despite a shortage of workers with construction experience,” said AGC’s chief economist, Ken Simonson. “But job openings are growing, as contractors encounter a shrinking pool of experienced job seekers.”
Construction spending reached record levels in January of nearly $1.3 trillion on a seasonally adjusted annual basis but not adjusted for inflation, AGC said.
California added the most construction jobs, 74,000 or 9.8 percent up from February 2017 to reach 856,100, AGC said, citing Labor Department figures also released Friday. Texas was second, up 33,900 to 740,200, and Florida was third, up 31,700 to 532,400.
The state Employment Development Department issued unadjusted figures for San Diego County which varied slightly from Reaser’s calculations after adjusting for seasonal factors. The February rate was 3.5 percent on an unadjusted basis, down from the revised 3.6 percent set in January and 4.4 percent in February 2017.
In other categories covered in the San Diego County report, the state said professional and businesses added the most jobs in February, up 5,300 from January to total 239,800,
Government and leisure/hospitality both added 2,600 to total 252,400 and 189,800, respectively.
The only major month-over-month decline occurred in trade, transportation and utilities, down 2,600 to 227,700.
The report included the unadjusted unemployment rates of various cities and localities in the county. The lowest rate was 1.4 percent in Solana Beach and the highest, 6.9 percent in the Bostonia area of El Cajon.
San Diego city’s rate was 3.4 percent or 24,510 out of 718,330 residents, followed by Chula VIsta’s 3.3 percent or 4,660 out of 122,730 and Oceanside’s 3.6 percent or 2,960 out of 82,870.
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