Visualizing the SoCal economy
The beginning of March is a somewhat slow period for new data releases, so I’m working back through some earlier sources and adding some charts which help compare areas of Southern California.
The unemployment rate is relatively lower along the coastal counties, with the exception of LA County, which is higher than both Riverside and San Bernardino at 6.2%. Imperial County has the highest unemployment rate at 14.7%.
In contrast, employment has fully recovered from pre-pandemic levels in San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, while it hasn’t for the coastal counties. This apparent contradiction can be explained by the path of the labor force (i.e., participation of the population in the labor market). Labor force growth has been stronger out here, due to a higher demand for labor in impacted sectors (such as logistics). This has allowed jobs levels to improve by attracting more people into the labor force. In the coastal counties, labor force growth remains low because of a relatively lower demand for labor in impacted sectors, plus obvious safety/health impacts.
Finally, wage growth according to the Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages has been high across Southern California, especially in the northern coastal counties of San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara. But while the wage growth has been high in these areas because of labor supply issues, the primary driver behind wage growth in San Bernardino (9.4% growth) and Riverside (11.4%) Counties is the demand for labor, as mentioned earlier.