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Orange County hiring spree: 70,300 new jobs in 2022, unemployment falls to 2.5%

Orange County bosses added 70,300 workers last year as the local job market finished 2022 with employment at 101% of pre-pandemic December 2019.

My trusty spreadsheet, filled with state employment data, found Orange County with 1.7 million filled positions in December after adding 70,300 in 12 months. Those hires were 24% slower than 2021’s 92,000 new workers but it was part of a rebound from pandemic era business restrictions that cut 153,800 workers in 2020.

So three years of ups and downs in the coronavirus economy left the local job market with 8,500 more paychecks vs. December 2019, a time when nobody worried about a pandemic. Note that bosses in O.C. added 70,200 jobs in the three years before the virus struck.

California has nation’s 12th fastest-growing state economy

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The hiring spree dropped joblessness. Orange County’s unemployment rate finished 2022 at ended 2022 at 2.5% vs. a rate of 3.7% a year earlier, 7.7% at year-end 2020 and 2.6% in December 2019.

However, O.C.’s hiring turnabout was not equal by industry. Look at key local job categories, ranked by how much of pre-pandemic employment has been recovered at the end of 2022 …

Transportation/warehouses: 109% of December 2019. Jobs at record 30,900 workers after adding 900 in 2022, growing by 800 employees in 2021, and adding 800 in 2020.

Health and personal services: 107% of December 2019. Jobs at record 219,900 positions after adding 11,800 in 2022, growing by 4,800 workers in 2021, and cutting 2,300 in 2020.

Restaurants: 104% of December 2019. Jobs at record 152,500 employees after adding 12,600 in 2022, growing by 29,200 workers in 2021, and cutting 35,500 in 2020.

Business services: 102% of December 2019. Jobs at 338,300 jobs after adding 13,500 in 2022, growing by 7,800 workers in 2021, and cutting 13,300 in 2020.

Arts, entertainment and recreation: 99% of December 2019. Jobs at 53,700 jobs after adding 7,200 in 2022, growing by 21,500 employees in 2021, and cutting 29,300 in 2020.

Construction, real estate, finance: 99% of December 2019. Jobs at 198,800 workers after adding 5,800 jobs in 2022, losing 1,600 positions in 2021, and cutting 6,700 in 2020.

Manufacturing: 98% of December 2019. Jobs at 157,600 positions after adding 9,000 in 2022, growing by 1,300 jobs in 2021, and cutting 12,800 in 2020.

Government: 96% of December 2019. Jobs at 159,000 workers after dropping 1,400 in 2022, growing by 5,900 jobs in 2021, and cutting 10,800 in 2020.

Retailing: 96% of December 2019. Jobs at 151,300 jobs after adding 1,800 in 2022, growing by 1,700 workers in 2021, and cutting 9,500 in 2020.

Hotels: 86% of December 2019. Jobs at 22,700 positions after adding 2,600 in 2022, growing by 6,900 workers in 2021, and cutting 13,200 in 2020.

Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at jlansner@scng.com


Source: Orange County Register

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