According to the California Employment Development Department’s latest estimates, San Diego’s year-over-year rate of job losses hit a new low last month. Between April 2008 and April 2009, according to the EDD, San Diego employment declined by 45,300 jobs or 3.7 percent. The orange line on the graph below shows that this is as steep a rate of decline as we’ve seen this downturn. Also included on the graph are the three sectors that most benefited from the erstwhile housing boom as well as the job market exclusive of those three sectors:
Here’s a look at the same data in percentage terms:
Other sectors that were hit hard were professional services (down 8,000 jobs), manufacturing (down 6,500 jobs), and the formerly high-flying leisure and hospitality industry (down 5,900 jobs). The only sector to post a year-over-year gain was government, up 2,100 jobs.
The estimated rate of unemployment weighed in at 9.1 percent:
While unemployment declined between March and April, April’s rate was still higher than anything seen during either of the prior two downturns.
— RICH TOSCANO