Orange County Register

Unemployment in Orange County fell to 8.3% in April from a revised 8.6% in March, the first time in a year the jobless rate has decreased, reported the state Employment Development Department today.

Orange County, however, is still losing jobs.  The EDD said employers cut 1,000 local payroll positions from March to April and 72,600 jobs have disappeared in the last year, a 4.8% annual decline.

Statewide, the unemployment rate also edged down to 11% in April from 11.2% in March. California, with its huge population, lost 63,700 jobs from March to April — the highest in the country — and has seen 706,700 positions eliminated in the last year.

Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi called it a good news-bad news employment report.

He said unemployment probably dipped because so many people who were looking for jobs have given up and are doing something else.  He cited his university's own experience.

"In our MBA program, we're getting so many people coming in now," he said. "Those are considered 'discouraged workers.'"

The good news is that more people are pursuing self-employment, which doesn't get counted as payroll jobs.

"It's what always happens in the middle of a recession," Adibi said. "People become contractors, consultants or come up with ideas for doing something different."

In either case, Adibi believes the slight decrease in the April unemployment rate may be a temporary blip.

"By the end of June, a whole bunch of college graduates will be added to the labor force as well as high school and even college kids looking for part-time jobs but won't be able to find them," he said.

The best he can say about April's numbers is that it appears the annualized job loss may be leveling off in the 70,000 range.

"Most businesses have done the big layoffs," he said. "Now you will see them cutting one or two or 10 or 12 but not 1,000 or 5,000."

In the last year, Orange County has lost jobs in every sector except healthcare and education, which was clinging to a net 200 gain since April 2008.

Although most sectors have has seen a decline in employment, not every company is laying off.

Take the hard-hit construction industry, which lost 14,000 local jobs in the last year.

Bruce Nelson, vice president of business development for McCarthy Building Companies' Southern California division in Newport Beach, said despite the overall economy, the company is maintaining its workforce and even doing some selective hiring.

The division has about 350 field and office professionals on the payroll plus about the same number of hourly laborers, carpenters and other trades people on its various projects.

Nelson attributes the company's ability to weather the recession to a healthy backlog of longterm projects built up during the boom years plus some new work that's come its way.

McCarthy also has a diversified portfolio of work that's not reliant on the fortunes of any one industry or sector.  Current local projects range from a seven-school modernization program for Huntington Beach Union High School District to healthcare work like the new Mission Hospital patient care tower.

"We don't know if business is going to grow this year, but we're holding our own," he said.

Even at modern-day highs, Orange County's unemployment was fifth lowest in the state in April.  Marin County was lowest at 7.2%.

California's 11% unemployment rate was the fifth highest in the country.  Michigan is highest at 12.9%. Nationwide, unemployment rose in April to 8.9% from 8.5% in March.

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