Employment Goes More Negative

San Diego County employment declined on a year-over-year basis in June. While the loss of 4,900 jobs only amounts to .4 percent of total employment, it is actually the worst annual employment decline for many years.

Interestingly, the long-suffering sectors dependent upon the housing boom — construction, finance, and retail — held relatively steady for the month. It was the non-housing sectors that saw deterioration. Growth outside the housing boom sectors was still handily positive at 10,900 jobs, but this a big drop from the 15,000-or-so yearly jobs that have typically been gained in recent times. The green line on the accompanying graph shows how June’s non-housing job growth stacked up.

One should never make too much of a single month’s data, especially with these employment estimates that are often heavily revised down the road. So while we will wait for more information before drawing any firm conclusions, this month’s data suggests that the pervasive weakness in the housing and financial markets has begun to spill over into the general economy.

— RICH TOSCANO