Rate Falls to 6.2%
In an example of good news for San Diego Property Managers and Investors, the San Diego economy enjoyed a net gain of 3,500 new jobs during August. Resulting in an unemployment rate (not adjusted for seasonal factors) that fell from July’s 6.6% to the current September 6.2% rate. A rate of employment growth that exceeds both the state and the nation.
As reported by the San Diego Union Tribune “The annual growth is coming in fields that bode well for the general economy, with thousands of new jobs in the high paying professional and scientific industry as well as the construction field, which creates opportunities for the middle class. ‘It’s encouraging that you’ve got strengths in all sorts of areas, particularly in professional and technical services, construction and health care,’ said Alan Gin, economist at the University of San Diego. ‘Those categories I think indicate pretty good news.’
Over the past 12 months, the labor force has grown by 15,900 people, but payroll employment is up 34,200 jobs. That’s been enough to push the unemployment rate down by 1.5 percent since August 2013. There are now 99,800 unemployed San Diegans, down more than 18 percent from a year ago.
During that yearlong period, the professional, scientific and technical services sector is up 7,800 workers. The only industry to decline in the county is financial activities, which has contracted by 700 workers due to the end of the refinancing boom and slowness in the housing market.
Housing market aside, the construction field has added 6,800 workers, a 10.9 percent annual gain that economists say has a positive ripple affect. That’s because construction activity leads to other contracting jobs as well as big-ticket purchases, such as new appliances. The jobs also help to alleviate the issue of underemployment, such as a former construction worker taking a retail job that pays much less.
‘Construction jobs don’t require a whole lot of background or education and are generally good paying jobs, and a healthy indication in the economy,” said Mike Combs, research manager at the San Diego Regional Economic Development Corp. ‘A lot of times when the construction project needs work you don’t necessarily need people that have a ton of experience.’”
