California Apparel News

Los Angeles County economists are convinced the manufacturing industry is still a powerful factor in the region’s economy, despite growing demands by retailers and the shuttering of mills as a result of the California energy crisis.

Jack Kyser, chief economist for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), said that Los Angeles’ apparel industry is shifting its focus toward the strength of its workforce after a recent study indicated that the county’s position as manufacturing leader—a slot it has held for the past five years, according to the LAEDC—is slipping. New data indicate that Chicago is the leading manufacturing sector, with steady employment at 631,000 in 2000, 2,100 more than that of Los Angeles.

According to “Manufacturing in the Los Angeles Five-County Area,” a report recently published by the LAEDC, the top areas in Los Angeles County for manufacturing are south Los Angeles with 129,729 manufacturing jobs, the San Gabriel Valley with 99,196 jobs and the San Fernando Valley with 93,924 jobs.

Meanwhile, manufacturing employment was estimated at 231,000 in Orange County, 124,000 in Riverside and San Bernardino counties and 40,900 in Ventura County. In the three surrounding metropolitan areas the manufacturing base potential is approximately over a million jobs.

However, Kyser said that the California energy crisis, the national economic slowdown and the failure of the dotcom industry have all taken a dramatic toll on the industry, which resulted in the decrease in Los Angeles’ manufacturing job markets. He attributed the decline in county employment to several factors: manufacturing firms relocating to outside counties, continued cutbacks and job losses due to offshore production.

“While the nation’s manufacturing sector is in a full-blown recession, there are divergent trends in this activity in Southern California,” explained Kyser.

Kaiser also said the mass junior market, which was formerly a staple in Los Angeles manufacturing in the mid-1990s, has since gone offshore to China, Mexico or Guatemala.

Kyser said that the number of manufacturing jobs in Los Angeles County may be declining but that there is job growth in Riverside and San Bernardino counties as the industry migrates beyond Los Angeles in search of expansion space at reasonable lease rates.

The LAEDC report is based on a classification for manufacturing sectors that includes technology specializing in the production process. These sectors also include industrial machinery, apparel and textiles and construction products, among others.

“It’s not a new classification for manufacturing, but it’s a new way at looking at manufacturing. If the industry sector is a heavy user of technology then the analysts are classifying it as a technology industry,” Kaiser said, pointing out that Los Angeles’ textile industry relies heavily on technology.

Still, analysts are predicting the county will continue to post job losses, with its 2001 average down by 7,000 jobs from the previous year. Kyser said Orange County is likely to experience a modest gain of 1,500 jobs, while Ventura County and Riverside/San Bernardino counties will see employment increase by 4,000 through 2001.