California Employment Outlook Slips
Even though California’s job growth rate is expected to cool during the second quarter of the year, the overall employment outlook should be better than last year’s.
A study by the Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange, Calif., shows some slowing in the second quarter. That is based on the fact that California’s construction spending is expected to increase 10.1 percent in the second quarter, compared with 10.5 percent in the previous quarter.
The year-over-year change in real exports is expected to be 5.8 percent in the second quarter, compared with 5.9 percent in the first quarter. And the year-over-year percentage change in the country’s real gross domestic product will probably grow 3.6 percent in the second quarter, compared with 3.9 percent in the first quarter.
“Basically, there is a slight drop in job growth from earlier this year, which started out stronger,” said Esmael Adibi, director of the Anderson Center for Economic Research. “For the year, we are forecasting average job growth in the state to be 1.2 percent to 1.3 percent over last year. That is better than last year, when job growth was 1 percent.”
In the California apparel industry, the number of jobs has continued to shrink. During the first quarter of 2005, 85,200 people were employed statewide in apparel manufacturing, compared with 92,300 during the same period in 2004. But textile mills increased their payrolls to employ 14,400 people in the first quarter of this year, compared with 13,600 during the same period last year. —Deborah Belgum
