Providing fun once again powered Southern California’s pandemic-era jobs rebound with almost half of May’s hiring coming from leisure and hospitality industries previously hammered by “stay at home” orders and a reluctance to travel.
My trusty spreadsheet, filled with state job figures, found local bosses had 7.28 million employees last month in the four counties covered by the Southern California News Group. That’s up 69,700 in a month vs. 69,400 hires in April and an average 50,100 monthly hiring pace in the past year’s recovery.
Letting various attractions reopen with limit capacity helped spur another Southern California hiring spree as most coronavirus-linked business limitations were eased or lifted. California became all-but fully reopened on June 15.
The recent hires cut Southern California’s jobless rate in May to 8.7% vs. a revised 9.44% the previous month. But it’s nowhere near 4.2% of February 2020, the last time the economy wasn’t shackled by the virus. The pandemic era peak was 17.1% in May 2020.
Plus, the region has seen a very split jobs recovery with lagging employment in eateries, tourism and entertainment. These “fun” businesses had 746,100 workers last month — 78% of pre-pandemic staffing compared to 94% for the rest of the economy.
But the “fun” businesses are coming back. They may have just 10% of local jobs but “fun” employers added 32,200 workers last month or 46% of the region’s hiring. The last four months, “fun” was tied to 54% of all hires.
Here’s how employment fared in the “fun” job market niches in May in Southern California …
Restaurants: Last month was 81% of the pre-virus employment level — down 128,000 workers from February 2020. That’s after adding 13,000 last month. In this rebound, jobs in the past year grew by an average of 12,200 a month.
Hotels: 65% of pre-virus jobs — down 33,800 after adding 6,200 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 1,000 a month.
Arts, entertainment and recreation: 74% of pre-virus jobs — down 44,600 after adding 13,000 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 2,000 a month.
And hiring trends in other key SoCal job categories …
Transportation/warehouses: 108% of the pre-virus employment — up 32,100 from February 2020. That’s after adding 2,600 last month. In this rebound, jobs in the past year averaged growing 4,300 a month.
Healthcare, personal services: 99% of the pre-virus level — down 13,700 after adding 7,400 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 6,700 a month.
Construction, real estate, finance: 96% of pre-virus jobs — down 25,800 after adding 300 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 3,600 a month.
Retailing: 94% of pre-virus jobs — down 45,400 after dropping 200 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 7,400 a month.
Business services: 94% of pre-virus jobs — down 64,200 after adding 7,200 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 6,100 a month.
Government: 93% of pre-virus jobs — down 74,200 after adding 8,300 last month. Rebound’s average? Down 3,500 a month.
Manufacturing: 92% of pre-virus jobs — down 49,000 after adding 5,700 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 1,500 a month.
In SoCal’s metropolitan areas …
Los Angeles County: At 91% of pre-virus jobs — still down 434,000 in the pandemic era even after adding 41,000 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 24,200 a month. Unemployment? 10.1% vs. 11.2% previous month.
Orange County: 93% of pre-virus level — or a loss of 113,100 after adding 19,100 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 11,300 a month. Unemployment? 5.9% vs. 6.2% previous month.
Riverside and San Bernardino counties: 96% of pre-virus level — or a loss of 63,500 after adding 9,600 last month. Rebound’s average? Up 11,100 a month. Unemployment? 7.2% vs. 7.5% previous month.
Jonathan Lansner is business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com