Chapman Study Sees Continued Growth in County Jobs

Signaling the potential continuation of a vigorous Orange County employment market, a new Chapman College study says the number of new jobs should increase “at relatively high rates” as long as the labor pool remains large enough to satisfy demand for new workers.

The study, to be released today by the college’s Center for Economic Research, says its latest analysis of statistics affecting future economic trends in Orange County shows that job growth should continue at an annual rate of 3% to 4% during the last six months of 1987.

The projected rate is about the same as during the first half of the year but higher than the center had earlier estimated for the second half.

The higher projection means that 5,000 to 25,000 more new jobs would be created in the county during the last six months of the year.

James Doti, dean of Chapman’s school of business administration, said the projected growth of the county’s employment is attributable to an increase in the nation’s overall economy as measured by the Gross National Product, the index of all U.S. goods and services.

Doti said past leaps in his “leading economic series” estimates have been reliable indicators of job growth for the following six months.