Who’s getting Orange County’s biggest pay raises?

”Survey says” looks at various rankings and scorecards judging geographic locations while noting these grades are best seen as a mix of artful interpretation and data.

Buzz: Orange County’s job market started 2023 looking sluggish on a national scale, but the lowest-paid service workers were the localwinners.

Source: My trusty spreadsheet reviewed the “Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages” report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics for Orange County, one of 10 giant job markets analyzed in great detail.

The study for the 12 months ended in March is based on unemployment insurance data filed by bosses vs. the more closely followed monthly job reports derived from employer surveys. These quarterly numbers give a different – some say better – snapshot of job market conditions.

Topline

The countywide average weekly wage rose 4.3% in a year to $1,562 as of March. Nationally, workers saw 6.6% raises, rising to $1,465. Only 40 counties of the 360 most-populated ones tracked had smaller raises.

Orange County bosses employed 1.64 million people after a year of 1.1% growth. But, the U.S. job market grew at a 2.5% pace. Local job growth ranked 257th out of the 360 counties.

Details

So amid this modest hiring spree, who got Orange County’s biggest raises?

Workers doing “other services” – everything from auto repair to laundry to maids to beauticians – had wages increase 10.7% in a year to $907 a week. It’s a hot niche everywhere, as US wages in this category rose 10%.

Orange County has 50,000 jobs in these “other services” and the swift 4.1% one-year growth – faster than the 3.8% US hiring – helps explain the big raises.

Consider other key Orange County job categories, ranked by size of 12-month wage hikes …

Government: Up 10.1% to $1,813 a week (vs. 8.7% US raises) for 154,000 jobs – 1.8% growth (US: 2.2% growth). Again, a labor shortage drives up pay.

Manufacturing: Up 10% to $2,148 a week (US: 7.3% raise) for 155,800 jobs – 0.5% growth (US: 1.4% growth). Local factories are on a rebound.

Construction: Up 9.8% on $1,749 a week (US: 10.2% raise) for 101,300 jobs – a 1.6% loss (US: 2.7% growth). The construction boom was temporarily slowed by a wet winter.

Leisure and hospitality: Up 7.7% on $660 a week (US: 10.8% raise) for 225,300 jobs – 7.3% growth (US: 5.7% growth). “Fun” businesses still rebounding from pandemic limits.

Private education/health services: Up 7% on $1,149 a week (US: 8.1% raise) for 251,800 jobs – 4% growth (U.S.: 3.9% growth). Two hot niches.

Information: Up 6.3% on $3,101 a week (US: 1.9% raise) for 22,300 jobs – down 2.4% (US: 0.2% growth). Tech industry woes show up in the job market.

Trade, transportation, and utilities: Up 5.4% on $1,375 a week (US: 8.4% raise) for 257,100 jobs – 1% growth (US: 0.6% growth). The warehouse world is cooling as life returns to normal.

Professional/business services: Up 4.4% to $1,799 a week (US: 6.5% raise) for 313,400 jobs – a 1.6% loss (U.S.: 1.5% growth). Back-to-office demands shake up this category.

Financial activities: Cut 4.2% to $2,812 a week (US: 1.6% raise) for 101,900 jobs – down 8.7% loss (US: 1.3% growth). High interest rates slashed transaction demand.

Bottom line

Bigger raises and hiring opportunities are going to some of Orange County’s lesser-paid workers – folks toiling for bosses in “other” services, leisure and hospitality, and private education and health services.

This trio’s workers got a combined 7.2% wage hike to $917 a week. These 527,100 jobs grew by 5.4% since March 2022.

Compare those pay patterns to all other Orange County workers who saw wages increase 4.7% to $1,868 a week – but their 1.11 million jobs came after 0.8% cuts.

Staffing headaches for all sorts of service jobs is a key factor in the nation’s inflation challenges. And in labor-intensive industries, like this Orange County trio, higher wages has led to boost prices of these services.

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

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Source: Orange County Register