SLO County unemployment more than doubled in 2020. Here’s which industries were hit hardest
After a brief decline in November 2020, San Luis Obispo County’s unemployment rate jumped sharply in December as COVID-19-induced closures forced businesses across the state to cut jobs and reduce hours once again.
SLO County’s unemployment rate hit 6.9% in December, up from 5.5% in November, according to data from the California Employment Development Department.
Unemployment had briefly dipped in November, a bright spot after months of dour pandemic news, but experts at the time cautioned the number would likely grow again once a new round of stay-at-home orders went into effect.
SLO County’s December rate is the seventh-lowest unemployment rate among California’s 58 counties.
Imperial County had the highest unemployment rate in December with 17.7% of its labor force out of work, while Marin County had the lowest with 5.5% unemployed.
The local rate echoes the statewide trend of higher-than-usual unemployment in the midst of the pandemic.
In a Jan. 22 statement, California Labor Secretary Julie A. Su noted that in December 2019, California was “experiencing record-long job growth and record-low unemployment.”
In 2020, however, the employment landscape has been very different. California’s jobless rate was 9% in December 2020, up significantly from 3.9% in 2019.
“The numbers we see today reflect the challenges we’ve faced and the work that needs to be done — as a state, as a country, and as individuals,” Su said in a statement. “It’s crucial that we do everything we can to ensure that Californians can get back to work safely. By doing what we can to step up and protect one another, we can and will rebuild our economy, our state and our nation.”
Where did SLO County lose jobs?
In San Luis Obispo County, the unemployment rate was 2.5% in December 2019 and roughly 3,500 people were counted as unemployed at that time.
Flash-forward to 2020, and that number more than doubled, with about 8,900 people being counted as unemployed in SLO County.
The biggest job losses year-over-year were in the leisure and hospitality sector, which lost about 5,300 jobs between December 2019 and 2020.
Though the industry clearly struggled through the coronavirus pandemic, the rapid loss of jobs in that sector seems to have slowed somewhat month-to-month.
Between November and December, leisure and hospitality lost a net total of about 100 jobs, according to the data.
Sub-sectors within that category however, reported large job losses between November and December that were essentially canceled out by gains in other parts of that sector.
For example, roughly 500 food services and drinking places were lost in that time period, according to the data, while accommodation (i.e. hotel) employment grew by 200 jobs.
The biggest sector losses month-over-month were in the education and health services industry, which reported 400 fewer net jobs in December than in November. It was also the sector with the second largest year-over-year drop in jobs behind leisure and hospitality.
According to the data, there were 1,900 fewer people employed in education and health services jobs in December 2020 than in 2019.
The trade, transportation and utilities sector was the only area to report growth between November and December, adding an estimated 300 jobs. It lost a total of 1,000 jobs year-over-year, however.
Not a single local sector saw net job growth between 2019 and 2020.
This story was originally published January 24, 2021 at 4:23 PM.
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