Economy Gaining, Despite Rise in Unemployment Rate

Despite a sharp increase in the July unemployment rate in Ventura County, analysts and labor officials said Friday that the local economy is continuing to rebound from a years-long recession.

But jobs are not being created as fast as they were earlier this year.

The Ventura County unemployment rate climbed to 7.9% in July, an increase of 1.4 percentage points over June’s 6.5%, according to the latest statistics from the California Employment Development Department. The rate was 8.2% in July 1995.

Labor officials, however, said last month’s increase was not unexpected.

“The good news is that we’re still heading in a positive direction,” said Doug Perron, a labor analyst with the state jobs office in Santa Barbara.

“Over the year, most of the sectors are up,” he said. “We are recovering from the prolonged recession, but we did not expect, nor are we seeing, the phenomenal job growth we saw in the 1980s.”

Statewide, the July unemployment rate was 7.6%, down from 8.3% 12 months earlier, Perron said. Nationally, 5.6% of the labor force was unemployed in July.

Ventura County lost about 600 nonfarm jobs between June and July, a reduction that officials said was anticipated. “Most of it is a seasonal hike, although it’s a bit more significant than usual,” Perron said.

Other industries also took hits that are typical this time of year.

For example, there were 1,300 fewer education jobs during July than the previous month as a result of the summer recess in most public schools. The health services industry lost 200 jobs in the past month.

But some sectors managed to increase their job pools during the summer.

The manufacturing and finance industries posted gains of about 200 new jobs each between June and July, said the report. About 100 new retail jobs also were created locally.

Mark Schneipp, director of the UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project, which tracks the Ventura County economy, said he was watching the jobs slowdown with some concern.

“We’re certainly glad to see that employment continues to rise,” he said. “However, the rate of employment growth has slowed considerably between January and February of this year and June and July.

“That is somewhat troublesome,” he said. “But it doesn’t necessarily mean that things are starting to slow down permanently.”

There were 242,400 nonfarm jobs in Ventura County by the end of July, up 2,000 jobs from the same period a year ago. The farming industry showed a significant decline, however, reporting 1,100 fewer jobs compared with July 1995, the report showed.

The July unemployment figures underscore an improving trend in the number of jobs available in Ventura County during the past year.

More than 1,300 new jobs have been created in service industries between July 1995 and last month, a jump of nearly 2% countywide. There were about 500 new manufacturing jobs available in Ventura County over the same period, the report said.

“We’re at about 1% growth over the year,” Perron said. “I expect it to continue at about the same rate. Ventura County’s is a rather slow rate, but it’s comparable to Santa Barbara’s and it’s in a positive direction.”

Not all industries, however, are experiencing an expanding job pool.

The mining industry has lost 25% of its jobs in Ventura County in the past 12 months, with the area now supporting about 1,500 mining jobs. Construction has taken its toll as well, losing about 100 jobs in the past year.

There are 200 fewer public sector jobs in Ventura County now, with the federal government employing 500 fewer people locally than it did a year ago.

State government also has cut its work force from 3,400 in July 1995 to 3,300 last month. Local government, including the county, cities and schools, employs 29,300 people, an increase of 400 jobs from July 1995.

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Ventura County Jobless Rate

July, 1996: 7.(%

Annual Rates

1995: 7.3%

1994: 7.9%

1993: 8.8%

1992: 8.8%

Source: California Employment Development Department