After months of declining unemployment, Orange County's jobless rate fell in November to the lowest point on record, a minuscule 2.3%, officials reported Friday.
The drop, from a revised 2.6% in October, was caused partly by some seasonal factors such as increased hiring by retailers. But it also reflected the county's remarkably robust economic growth over the last year in the face of an ever-shrinking labor pool.
"Think of that. A civilian work force of 1.5 million and 1.45 million are employed. Wow," said Michael Bernick, director of California's Employment Development Department, which Friday released the last jobs report of the year for Orange County and other areas of the state.
Statewide, employers created a hefty 45,600 new jobs last month in a burst of hiring that nudged down California's unemployment rate to a seasonally adjusted 4.8%, a 30-year-low.
California accounted for 20% of the jobs produced nationwide last month, nearly double the state's share of the nation's work force. The hiring, powered by strong performances from a broad spectrum of industries, was also well above the yearlong average of 30,000 monthly job gains. Nonetheless, wage inflation remained subdued.
Orange County employers have been adding roughly 3,500 jobs a month this year, down from an average of 5,000 last year, but still in line with its share of the state's overall labor force. That drop-off partly reflects the county's tighter labor market.
Orange County's previous unemployment low was in late 1989, when the rate dipped to 2.4% before gradually rising as the county and the state slipped into recession. Whether the latest November rate can be sustained or not, analysts clearly see a double-edged sword in the county's labor market conditions.
On the one hand, more workers of all skill levels are getting jobs--and better-paying ones. But employers' troubles in finding workers are likely to persist in the coming months.
Indeed, some employers in the county already have resorted to guerrilla tactics in the battle for workers.
"I had to rely on my recruiting skills. I had to steal some of these people," said Charles Holling, manager at Bombay, a specialty furniture and gift retailer at South Coast Plaza, which bulked up in November for the holidays.
One of his recruits, Henry Rodriguez, was working at the Gap when Holling came calling with a $2-an-hour boost in pay. Rodriguez, 19, jumped at it. He plans to keep the job well past the holidays.
