California's Job Growth to Weaken in First Quarter
It might take job seekers a little longer to find that perfect job in the upcoming months.
According to a Chapman University study, the first part of 2006 is shaping up to be rather soft for job growth in California compared with the latter half of 2005.
However, payroll growth still will be positive for the first quarter of 2006.
“The pace of job creation is expected to be slightly lower than the 1.5 percent growth rate currently reported for the previous two quarters,” said a statement released by the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange, Calif.
Chapman economists used several factors to calculate the Employment Indicator Index. They included the state’s total construction spending, the nation’s real gross domestic product, or GDP, real exports and the Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index. All four components of the index are positive but increasing at a slower rate than during the last quarter of 2005.
For example, year-over-year percentage changes in real GDP were 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from 3.6 percent in the previous quarter. California’s construction spending decreased from a growth rate of 9.4 percent in the third quarter of 2005 to 8.5 percent in the fourth quarter. And year-over-year percentage changes in real exports fell from 6.9 percent growth in the third quarter of 2005 to 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter. —Deborah Belgum
