Merced County recovery months after COVID-19 jobless spike crawls to plateau in September
After four straight months of notably improving employment in Merced County, local job gains all but plateaued in September, according to the latest statewide unemployment numbers released Friday by the Employment Development Department.
Merced County’s unemployment rate crept down slightly from 10.7% in August to 10.6% in September.
Local job loss, like much of the nation, spiked in April at nearly 19% due to the onslaught of the coronavirus pandemic. Merced County has made significant month-to-month employment gains in the following months.
August to September represented the slightest gain since April. County joblessness is still nearly double what it was during September 2019, when unemployment was 5.8%.
Local gains and losses
Just three economic industries gained jobs between August and September in Merced County, according to EDD data. Government jobs increased by 1,200, farm-related jobs by 1,000 and trade, transportation and utilities by 200 jobs.
State and local government, including education, accounted for most of the government job increases.
Both the manufacturing and professional and business services industries decreased by 100 jobs locally. All other economic sectors saw no change between August and September.
With the exception of the mining, logging and construction industry, Merced County jobs are short by the hundreds or thousands in every other sector compared to September 2019.
Still, for the second month in a row, Merced County unemployment was slightly better off than the statewide (unadjusted) average of 10.8%. This is significant, as the county’s joblessness historically tends to double that of the state.
EDD Labor Market Analyst Steven Gutierrez, who works with the department’s Fresno office, has said that Merced County’s resilient agricultural industry helped prevent local unemployment from doubling the statewide average during the pandemic. Counties more dependent upon sectors that were highly subject to state-mandated restrictions, like restaurants and hotels within the tourism and hospitality industry, have been hit harder.
Statewide, however, leisure and hospitality experienced the largest job gain of all industries due to large growth in accommodation and food services, according to the EDD.
Gutierrez warned in July and August that Merced County’s agricultural buoy may not last for long. Expected seasonal loss of farm-related work would likely lead to rising unemployment in this sector come the winter months, he said.
How this seasonal shift, coupled with the county having recently reopened more of its economy, will affect the overall state of local employments is unknown.
Statewide, September joblessness marked just the second consecutive month since March that unemployment rate was lower than the height of the Great Recession in 2010. California has now regained 38% of the more than 2.6 million non-farm jobs lost between March and April due to COVID-19.
Unemployment around the Valley
Across the central San Joaquin Valley’s counties, the state EDD figures for September included:
Fresno County: Out of an available labor force of 442,500 people, 45,900 were out work, an unemployment rate of 10.4%. The unemployment rate was 8.5% in February and 16.9% in April.
Kings County: From a labor force of 55,200 people, 5,700 were out of work, an unemployment rate of 10.3%. The rate was 9.8% in February and 17.0% in April.
Madera County: From a labor force of 61,600 people, 5,800 were out of work, an unemployment rate of 9.4%. The rate was 8.0% in February and 16.7% in April.
Tulare County: From a labor force of 190,600 people, 23,300 were out of work, an unemployment rate of 12.2%. The rate was 11.5% in February and 19.3% in April.
The Fresno Bee’s Tim Sheehan contributed to this report.
