Mild Improvement in California Job Growth Last Month

A recent monthly study finds the overall year-over-year job growth in California remains steady with no significant change in June. According to the study, conducted by the University of Redlands Institute for Spatial Economic Analysis (ISEA), most areas in both Northern California and Southern California show 1% to 3% moderate job increase. The Inland Empire, San Francisco region, Sacramento, and Fresno are leading the pack showing more than 3% job increase. However, Yuba City, Marysville, Nevada City, Sonora, and Madera are still shedding jobs with no improvement in June. The city of Merced, where there had been moderate job increase in May, has started shedding jobs this month. Southern California exerts the same pattern as May where almost the entire area shows positive job growth with only a few scattered locations shedding jobs including San Fernando, the area south of Los Angeles, the eastern region of Orange County and locations near the border of Los Angeles. On the other hand, the overall month-over-month job growth in Southern California remains in the idling status in June with the light green zone (1% to 3% moderate job growth) scattering in the Inland Empire, Bakersfield, Northern Los Angeles County, and San Diego County. The overall month-over-month job growth in Northern California appears yellow (-1% to 1% job growth) with most regions showing idling status (-1% to 1% job growth). Areas such as Oakland, Santa Rosa, Fremont, Stockton, Modesto, Madera, Fresno, and Visalia, where there had been moderate to significant job increase in May, have stepped into the idling status in June 2014. On the other hand, the surrounding areas in Sacramento and San Francisco have stepped out of the yellow zone (-1% to 1% job growth) by showing moderate job growth (1% to 3%) in June. The year-over-year job growth in Riverside and San Bernardino counties has slightly increased this month with the average job growth rate increasing from 2.4% in May 2014 to 2.76% in June. The whole region appears green (1% to 3% moderate job growth) with no locations showing idling status (-1% to 1% job growth) or shedding jobs in June. The researchers combined the new data release on employment by industry from the California Employment Development Department with business pattern data by zip code and industry from the U.S. Census Bureau to arrive at their projected values. The researchers point out that, given the data available to them, their projected values are only rough approximations of the true values, and that accuracy is higher for counties with larger populations. Despite those shortcomings, the observed patterns should still be helpful for decision makers in politics, businesses and organizations to determine where to best direct their efforts.