Southern California bosses are adding to their staffs at roughly half the historic pace.<\/p>\n
My trusty spreadsheet analyzed state job counts to find a total of 9.93 million jobs across Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Ventura and Imperial counties in June. That\u2019s up 37,100 over 12 months, or a 0.4% gain. By the way, this is record-high employment for the region.<\/p>\n
Here are 11 things to know about June\u2019s job market:<\/p>\n
1. Southern California employment has grown at an 85,070 annual pace during the past decade. So, June\u2019s job growth is 56% below the region\u2019s 10-year average for 12-month staffing additions.<\/p>\n
2. Statewide, there were 18.1 million jobs, up 106,900 workers in a year. Pace since 2016? Adding 170,600 yearly. So, 37% below the 10-year norm.<\/p>\n
3. Southern California bosses are slower to add staff than their northern peers. Southern California had 55% of all jobs statewide in June but only 35% of California\u2019s employment growth.<\/p>\n
Local bosses are skittish about adding staff because the national economy is wobbly, interest rates and inflation are stubbornly high, there\u2019s plenty of political uncertainty \u2014 nationally and statewide \u2014 and there\u2019s a war going on. Northern California is benefiting from a huge influx of venture capital, primarily to boost artificial intelligence development.<\/p>\n
Across the region\u2019s six job markets, June had four adding workers in a year with two declining.<\/p>\n
4. The region\u2019s employment giant, Los Angeles County, had 4.61 million workers, up 13,500 in a year. Pace since 2016? 22,700 added yearly. So, 41% below the 10-year norm.<\/p>\n
5. Orange County had 1.69 million jobs, off 200 in a year. Pace since 2016? 11,200 added yearly.<\/p>\n
6. The Inland Empire had 1.73 million jobs, up 8,900 in a year. Pace since 2016? 33,100 added yearly. So, 73% below the 10-year norm.<\/p>\n
7. San Diego County had 1.58 million jobs, up 15,600 in a year. Pace since 2016? 16,300 added yearly. So, 4% below the 10-year norm. This is record-high employment.<\/p>\n
8. Ventura County had 318,700 jobs, off 1,000 in a year. Pace since 2016? 1,900 added yearly.<\/p>\n
9. Imperial County had 61,000 jobs, up 300 in a year. Pace since 2016? 1,000 added yearly. So, 70% below the 10-year norm.<\/p>\n
An eye-catching trend: California\u2019s job market looks better than the nation.<\/p>\n
10. U.S. employers employed 159 million workers, up 506,000 from a year ago. This is record-high employment. Pace since 2016? 1.48 million yearly. So, American job creation is 66% below the 10-year norm.<\/p>\n
11. Peek at California\u2019s significant slice of the U.S. job market. The state accounted for 11% of all jobs nationwide in June but 21% of all U.S. job creation.<\/p>\n
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com<\/a><\/p>\n