Unemployment rate stays low, led by tourism hiring

San Diego County’s unemployment rate in May stayed at the nearly two-decade low of 2.9 percent, led by an increase in hiring for the summer tourism season, according to state labor data released Friday.

The jobless rate was unchanged from last month, and down from 3.7 percent at the same time last year. The region added 32,500 nonfarm jobs in a year, with most in professional and business services.

When adjusted for seasonal swings, the unemployment rate was more like 3.3 percent, said Lynn Reaser, chief economist for the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University. That is still below the seasonally adjusted nationwide rate of 3.8 percent and statewide rate of 4.4 percent.

“San Diego’s economy retains sizable momentum,” Reaser said. “Its most significant challenge in coming months may be producing enough qualified applicants to fill open positions.”

The leisure and hospitality sector led hiring between April and May, adding 2,100 jobs. It was spread among accommodation and food services, with 1,300, and arts, entertainment and recreation, up 800.

Looking at the big picture year-over-year, the county has added higher-paying positions in the professional and business services category that economists often point to as a better indicator of a strong economy than short-term jobs related to tourism.

The biggest percentage gain in the category was architectural, engineering and related services, which added about 2,000 jobs.

Genine Wilson, vice president of the Southern California division of staffing agency Kelly Services, said having such a low unemployment rate will mean employers need to change strategy — such as allowing two-year degrees instead of requiring four-year — if they want to fill jobs.

“They are still having trouble filling the middle-skilled positions,” she said. “They have more skilled jobs than skilled employees.”

Wilson said this market could be an opportunity for people who want to earn a little extra cash with a part-time job, or to launch a long-term strategy. She said workers may be able to gain experience by getting into a job easily now and build their work experience, as well as apply for positions that may loosen requirements.

In May, state labor officials said the local employer with most job advertisements, 2,232, was UC San Diego, which dwarfed any other entity. Other top places looking for workers were Marriott, with 633 advertisements, Northrop Grumman with 620, Robert Half International with 616 and General Atomics with 572.

The occupation with the most job advertisements was software developers with 1,463. It was followed by registered nurses (1,317), retail salespersons (1,050) and first-line supervisors of office and administrative support workers (851).

State labor officials do not seasonally adjust jobless rates for individual counties, but the unadjusted numbers show San Diego County had one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region in May at 2.9 percent. The jobless rate in Los Angeles County was 4 percent, 3.6 percent in San Bernardino County, 2.6 percent in Orange County and 3.8 percent in Riverside County.

phillip.molnar@sduniontribune.com (619) 293-1891 Twitter: @phillipmolnar

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