County Bucks Jobless Trend

Despite wartime jitters and a national economic slowdown, Ventura County unemployment fell sharply in October, even as layoffs spiked upward nationwide.

The county’s jobless rate fell from 5.2% in September to 4.8% last month, while the California rate increased to 5.4% and the U.S. rate rose to 5.0%.

The figures are not adjusted for seasonal variations.

“It’s really interesting that we don’t see any impact on Ventura County so far from the events of Sept. 11,” regional economist Mark Schniepp said. “It’s a pretty solid, robust report. And the deal is, if we don’t see it in these job numbers, we’re probably not going to see it. We seem to be getting back to normal.”

About 20,000 county workers had no job last month, down from 21,800 in September.

And the number of jobs in the county increased by about 1,400 to 298,600, up nearly 3,000 from last year and the most for an October in county history.

Ventura was the only county in Southern California with a drop in joblessness last month, although regional employment held up well.

Los Angeles County’s jobless rate, for example, remained stable at 5.9%.

Ventura County’s balanced economy produced strong gains in agriculture because of strawberry planting and education.

Those offset a continuing decline in construction, which lost 1,200 jobs, and a minor pullback in restaurant and retail employment.

Yet the county’s October unemployment rate was one-half percentage point above the record low of 4.4% a year ago.

And that shows the county is not immune to the national economic softening.

“Before this recession is over, there will be some losses in Ventura County,” said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “But you won’t feel as much pain as Los Angeles and the rest of the nation.”

Kyser and Schniepp cited the increasing breadth of Ventura County’s job base as the reason it should weather another recession well.

The same is generally true for the region, but not to the same extent.

“There’s definitely going to be unpleasant news down the road as companies adjust their work forces,” Kyser said. “But in Ventura County, you’re not as exposed to tourism as we are. And tourism took a mighty whack in September and October.”

In Ventura County, restaurants, bars and other eating places lost just 100 jobs from September to October, and 18,500 positions remain.

There was no change in transportation-related employment.

In addition, Ventura County is grounded with agriculture, government and military employers.

And it is on the cutting edge of high technology and biotech developments with its booming Ventura Freeway manufacturing corridor, Kyser said.

“That gives you balance and a lot of protection,” he said. “After Sept. 11, advanced technologies and biomedical areas have increased opportunities.”

Nor has the Port of Hueneme seen the sharp downturn in cargo that has plagued ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach, Kyser said, because the Ventura County port has its niche in reliable products such as autos, bananas and citrus.

“I can’t see that Sept. 11 has affected us at all,” said Bill Buenger, executive director at the Hueneme port.

Economists have predicted a decline in the nation’s gross domestic product for the fourth quarter, and perhaps the first half of next year.

But Kyser and Schniepp said Southern California is no longer dependent on the defense industry, as it was in the recession of the early 1990s.

“We think Southern California is going to perform better than the Bay Area and the nation,” Kyser said. “We don’t have the Internet and real estate bubble they’re dealing with in the Bay Area.”

Unemployment, he noted, jumped from 1.6% last October in Santa Clara County to 6.4% today.

Over the last year, total Ventura County jobs rose by 2,800, with increases in farm employment, government, retail stores, finance and real estate setting the pace.

Only jobs in construction and manufacturing were down.

Of all California counties, Ventura’s jobless rate ranked 25th of 58.

San Luis Obispo County had the lowest rate, 2.5%, and Santa Barbara County was second with a rate of 2.9%.

The agricultural San Joaquin Valley had the worst unemployment of any region, with rates in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties ranging between 11.7% and 13.9%.

Another farm county, Imperial, ranked last with a jobless rate of 24.1%

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura County Unemployment

October, 1987-2001

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Jobless Unemployment Year Workers Rate 2001 20,000 4.8% 2000 18,200 4.4% 1999 18,400 4.6% 1998 22,200 5.7% 1997 26,200 6.8% 1996 27,200 7.2% 1995 29,200 7.7% 1994 29,400 7.7% 1993 35,600 9.4% 1992 34,900 9.4% 1991 28,400 7.8% 1990 23,500 6.4% 1989 18,600 4.9% 1988 18,100 5.1% 1987 18,900 5.6%

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Source: California

Employment Development Department