California’s Employment Development Department released its October “scorecard” on Friday which indicated a decrease in the county’s unemployment rate and an increase in the total number of jobs created from September to October of 2017.
The scorecard assessed the economic development of a myriad of Southern California counties over the course of the month, mapping their respective unemployment rates and the changes in employment rates across various sectors.
“The ‘Los Angeles County Scorecard’ reflects our position that the Employment Development Department’s Labor Market Information Division (LMID) is a scorekeeper of the economy, an objective source that is neutral and credible,” said Juan Millian, Labor Market Information Consultant at the Employment Development Department.
According to the organization’s statistics, the unemployment rate in Los Angeles County fell from 4.9 percent in September to 4.5 percent in October.
This figure remains slightly above California’s mean statewide unemployment rate of 4.4 percent and is significantly higher than those of San Diego and Orange Counties, which were recorded at 3.7 percent and 3.3 percent respectively.
While the highest unemployment rate was observed in Riverside County at 5.0 percent, all counties surveyed remained under the natural rate of unemployment – which is approximately 5.5%.
In terms of specific economic sectors, healthcare, was both the largest and fastest growing industry with a total of 675,400 jobs in LA County. Consequently, registered nurses were cited as the profession in highest demand.
Within the county, the City of Los Angeles created the largest number of jobs, with 40,000 employment opportunities. After a precipitous drop off, Long Beach was ranked second 3,772 jobs and Pasadena third with 3,746.
The City of Santa Clarita, the fourth largest city by population within the county, did not rank in Los Angeles County’s “Top 10 Cities with Jobs.”
