Sacramento's Low Unemployment Is Driven By Government Hiring
As far as unemployment goes for Sacramento County, things are looking up (or rather, looking low). According to the Employment Development Department of California on their press release that recently hit the web, it looks like Sacramento has just hit its lowest unemployment numbers in the last two years. September saw the Sacramento-Roseville-Arden-Arcade Metropolitan area hit 5.2 percent for the month of September. Compare that to 5.7 percent in August and an overall 3.2 percent drop compared to two years ago. Most importantly, these numbers are just a tick above the employment numbers from 2007, which bodes well for key indicators that we've fully recovered from the recession of 2008. It's no surprise either as many local economists have already predicted Sacramento's rise from the ashes as far as our economy goes driven by both job growth and job expansion in the companies already established.
This increase in employment is largely in part to government jobs which saw an increase of over 3,000 jobs from last month. A closer peek will reveal that local government jobs were to thank for that. It also looks like some much-needed funding finally hit our county's education coffers as more than 1,100 jobs were added in August just as school was hitting its first strides of the semester. It may be disheartening at first glance to see leisure and hospitality lose over 900 jobs as well as professional and business services losing 1400 jobs in total, but keep in mind that the end of summer means students return to school and leave their summer jobs, and teachers return to work.
Interestingly, compared to last September (2014), food services and drinking places added over 8,700 jobs which signals a healthy boom for restaurants and bars having enough patronage to employ a steady workforce. And as far as last year was concerned, finishing a close second to food services and drinking places was retail trade with over 4,700 jobs added since last year. As the holiday season slowly starts to ramp up, keep an eye out on local job posting sites, Craigslist, etc. for retailers hiring. Just last month, Macy's announced a strong 85,000 jobs will be added over the next few months.
Paulo Acoba is a California native raised in the Bay Area and living in the Central Valley. He enjoys distance running, cycling and grassroots motorsports. He holds a degree in management from the University of California Merced. Paulo has been writing for Examiner.com since 2012 and covering the Fresno area.
