Fresno County job gains stall. See which industries still lag pre-pandemic levels
Employment gains in Fresno County’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic stalled last month for the first time since job losses peaked in the spring.
Almost 46,000 people were out of work in September in the county, according to figures released Friday by the state’s Employment Development Department. That’s down substantially from a peak of almost 76,000 jobless in April. That’s about the same as in August, when the EDD estimated unemployment at 45,700.
But the figure remains significantly higher than February, before the first confirmed local cases of coronavirus were reported.
For example, the leisure/hospitality sector – a wide-ranging category that includes restaurants, bars, hotels, motels, movie theaters and other recreation venues – included about 31,700 jobs in February. By April, about 12,600 of those jobs – or almost 40% – had evaporated as sweeping closures and restrictions were put in place locally and statewide to prevent the spread of of the contagion.
Those losses made leisure/hospitality the hardest-hit sector as measured by the sheer numbers of jobs lost to the pandemic. Since April, with the fitful, on-again/off-again resumption of business as restrictions are eased, the sector has regained about 6,600 jobs, the EDD estimated.
Similarly, the retail industry in Fresno County lost approximately 6,600 jobs between February and April, and to date has regained fewer than half of those, about 3,000 positions. Prior to the pandemic, retail was – and still is – one of the largest employment sectors in the county, with almost 39,000 jobs in February.
By April, that had fallen to about 32,000, but over the next five months climbed back up to more than 35,000 – still shy of its pre-pandemic levels. Unlike restaurants, which were forced for months to either close or limit operations to take-out service and later to outdoor dining, many large retailers were deemed “essential” businesses to the community and were able to stay open, and smaller retailers allowed to resume modified indoor operations months before their dining counterparts.
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.
Merced County: From a labor force of 114,600 people, 12,100 were out of work, an unemployment rate of 10.6%. The rate was 10.4% in February and 18.7% 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.
California’s seasonally adjusted statewide unemployment rate in September was 11.0%, down slightly from 11.2% in August, compared to a pre-pandemic 4.3% in February and a peak of 16.4% in both April and May.
