Los Angeles County has recorded a decrease in its unemployment rate for March, falling below 6% for the first time since October.
According to figures released by the California Economic Development Department on April 18, the unemployment rate for the county stands at 5.9%, down from 6.0% during the previous two months.
Interestingly, this decline is attributed to a significant reduction of 22,000 individuals in the county’s labor force, bringing the total to 5.08 million.
This means fewer people are actively seeking employment, contributing to the lower unemployment figure.
Despite the drop, the unemployment rate remains significantly higher compared to the 5.5% recorded in March of the previous year.
Furthermore, L.A. County’s rate exceeds California’s statewide unemployment rate of 5.3% and the national rate, which stands at 4.2%.
The unemployment statistics are derived from a household survey conducted in L.A. County, while the payroll data is based on employer submissions to the state.
The report also included unemployment rates by city, but unlike the countywide figure, these rates are unadjusted for seasonal factors.
In this context, the two largest cities within the county, Los Angeles and Long Beach, posted unemployment rates of 5.7% and 5.2%, respectively.
However, the Employment Development Department did not provide information regarding any potential impacts of January’s Palisades Fire on the Los Angeles unemployment figures.
Among the cities with populations exceeding 10,000, Lomita reported the lowest unemployment rate at an impressive 2.6%.
On the other hand, Calabasas recorded the highest unemployment rate in March at 8.1%.
In addition, among cities in the San Fernando, Conejo, Santa Clarita, and Antelope valleys—also with labor forces exceeding 10,000—Calabasas leads in unemployment, followed by Burbank at 7.1%, Lancaster at 7.0%, and Palmdale at 6.6%.
Conversely, Santa Clarita had the lowest unemployment rate of 5.2%, while San Fernando and Glendale followed at 5.6% and 5.7%, respectively.
Although the unemployment rate experienced some improvement, the county’s payroll jobs figures continued their roller coaster trend.
After a substantial decrease of nearly 100,000 jobs in January, followed by a gain of about 30,000 in February, March witnessed a slight decline of 2,300 jobs, bringing the total to 4.76 million.
However, when adjusted for seasonal factors, the Employment Development Department reported a more significant drop of 7,200 jobs compared to the previous month’s raw tally.
The breakdown of job loss across various sectors reveals the transportation and warehousing sectors were hit hardest, losing approximately 3,300 jobs.
Manufacturing followed with a net loss of 2,300 jobs, while construction, retail, and professional/business services each experienced reductions of around 2,000 jobs during March.
On a brighter note, the education sector demonstrated growth by adding 5,300 jobs overall, mainly within local K-12 education, which gained 4,100 jobs.
Moreover, the health care/social assistance sector saw a positive change, contributing an additional 2,900 jobs.
In the last 12 months ending in March, L.A. County faced a net loss of approximately 15,700 jobs, which equates to a 0.3% decline.
This reflects the third consecutive month of job losses in this rolling 12-month timeframe, a trend reminiscent of the early pandemic year of 2020.
The manufacturing sector sustained the most considerable downsizing during this period, with a loss of about 17,000 jobs.
This downturn is part of a long-term trend that has seen manufacturing jobs plummet from 834,000 in March 1990 to just 297,000 in March 2023, representing a staggering decrease of 64%.
Other sectors reporting job losses included professional/business services (down 9,800 jobs), financial activities (down 9,000 jobs), construction (down 8,800 jobs), and motion picture/sound recording (down 8,400 jobs).
On a positive note, the health care/social assistance sector has added around 40,000 jobs over the past year, while the education sector saw a net increase of just over 15,000 jobs, with roughly half of that number stemming from private education.
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