Employment news still grim but housing starts post improvement.

Another chilling drop in the number of Angelenos who have jobs underscores the depth of the Southland's recession, according to this week's Econowatch.

There were 3.75 million employed in Los Angeles County in January, down 1.7 percent from 3.85 million a year earlier.

The state Employment Development Department, source of the county employment numbers, has revised its data collection methods, so comparisons to earlier years are not possible, until the prior data is also revised.

However, under the old data series, Los Angeles County employment peaked at 4.35 million in late 1989, nearly 13.8 percent higher than the latest reported job level.

Even if the old data is revised, it remains clear that for more than three years the job base in the county has been shrinking.

In other news, housing starts rallied a bit in January, rising to 1,316, which was up 40.3 percent from a year earlier. It was the strongest housing start level since June, perhaps a reflection of lower interest rates.

For the year 1992 in the county there were 11,962 housing starts, compared with 50,498 in the boom year 1988.

The hotel industry registered a stronger January, with occupancy rates rising to 61.6 percent, up sharply from December, and up from 59.5 percent a year earlier, according to PKF Consulting in downtown Los Angeles. Room rates were also up, rising to $81.90 in January, a 6 percent gain from January 1992.

Another broad indicator of the Southland economy, Pacific Bell's small-business and major-business hook-ups were also down-in-the-mouth in December.

An index of the number of small businesses -- companies with six lines or less -- stayed at 105.6 in December, unchanged from November, but down a bit from 106.5 a year earlier.

The major-business index in December fell to 95.4, down from 96 in November and an identical 96 a year earlier.

In the local bankruptcy scene, the good news is that the numbers appear to be getting better; the bad news is that the level of bankruptcies nonetheless remains high.

There were 5,073 Chapter 7, or liquidation bankruptcies, in the Southland in January, down 16 percent from a year earlier. Generally speaking, Chapter 7 bankruptcies involves smaller companies.

There were also 177 Chapter 11, or reorganization bankruptcies, down 18.1 percent from a year earlier.

Econowatch is published weekly to help keep readers abreast of Southland economic and business statistics.