Job prospects in Southland plunge to 40-year low point.Unemployed ranks exceed help-wanted ads by big gap Never in the past 40 years have so many out-of-work Southlanders vied for relatively so few jobs. The number of unemployed compared with local newspaper help-wanted ads is at the highest level since ad statistics were first collected in 1951, according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. jobless figures and an index of local job ads, compiled by the Conference Board, a business association in New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Today, there are fewer advertised job openings per unemployed worker in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County than in the 1982 recession, or the recessions of the 1970s. Only the 1958 recession comes close for job scarcity. As of December, there were 4,440 unemployed in Los Angeles County for every index point of job ads, which is based upon classified job ad linage lin·age also line·age n. 1. The number of lines of printed or written material. 2. Payment for written work at a specified amount per line. linage Noun 1. in the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times Morning daily newspaper. Established in 1881, it was purchased and incorporated in 1884 by Harrison Gray Otis (1837–1917) under The Times-Mirror Co. (the hyphen was later dropped from the name). . That compares with just 1,150 unemployed per index point of job ads in 1989, meaning that today there are about four times as many unemployed per advertised job than just two years ago. In another way of looking at it, while the number of jobless in Los Angeles County has about doubled since 1989, the volume of help-wanted ads has been cut in half (see chart on page 53). As of December, there were 373,000 unemployed in Los Angeles County, making for an 8.3 percent county unemployment rate, according to the state Employment Development Department. At the Los Angeles Times, the dearth of job ads has been felt. "In 1991, we ran 8 million lines of classified help-wanted ads, which was off 42 percent from 1990," said Laura Morgan, Times spokeswoman. The relative rarity of job openings may explain why in this recession -- which in some ways is still a mild economic downturn -- consumer confidence has ebbed so low. To lose a job today may mean a sustained loss of income. The Conference Board's widely quoted index of consumer confidence sank in the Pacific Region of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. to 52.8 in December, down from 80 a year earlier and off from 100 in 1985, said Ken Goldstein, Conference Board economist. The Conference Board arrives at its confidence index by asking respondents about their economic condition and expectations for next six months, he said. "The public's mood has changed on the future, and the relative scarcity of jobs is a major factor," said Goldstein. "I think this lack of confidence in the future is a feeling that is spreading out from Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, ." Added Jack Kyser, economist with the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., "For some people, if you are talking about aerospace, financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. or retailing, it may be a couple of years or longer before they get comparable jobs." Too, the advertised positions may represent the better jobs, said Goetz Wolff, expert on local labor markets labor market A place where labor is exchanged for wages; an LM is defined by geography, education and technical expertise, occupation, licensure or certification requirements, and job experience at Los Angeles-based Resources for Employment and Economic Development. "The advertised jobs are not the 'walk-in' jobs, such as dishwashers. The decrease in advertised jobs has serious implications for Los Angeles," signaling a decline in higher-quality prospects. Nor do recent employment growth trends in Los Angeles County give much hope to job-hunters. Indeed, jobs seem to be evaporating.
Help-wanted ads vs. unemployed in Los Angeles County
Number of Thousands of
unemployed Help-wanted unemployed per
(000) ad index index point
1991(*) Dec. 373.0 84 4.44
1990 255.0 138 1.85
1989 196.3 170 1.15
1988 203.6 172 1.18
1987 248.6 167 1.49
1986 274.0 147 1.86
1985 281.0 148 1.90
1982(*) 355.0 103 3.45
1980 249.0 174 1.43
1975(*) 324.0 91 3.56
1974(*) 221.0 118 1.87
1970(*) 201.1 85 2.37
1960 145.1 53 2.74
1958(*) 163.3 38 4.30
1954(*) 94.5 33 2.86
1951 81.8 32 2.56
* Represents the recession years.
Source: The Annual Manpower for the Los Angeles-Long Beach (Los
Angeles County) area, 1970 issue; Annual Planning Information
Los Angeles-Long Beach, 1991 issue (both issued by the
California Employment Development Department); and The
Conference Board, New York City.
As of November, there were 4.29 million employed in the county, 0.9 percent fewer than a year earlier. And the outlook for the rest of 1992 is gloomy. David Hensley, who heads the UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX Business Forecasting Project, has predicted a 0.8 percent decline in the number of jobs in California this year, while Kyser has predicted a 0.5 percent job shrinkage Shrinkage The amount by which inventory on hand is shorter than the amount of inventory recorded. Notes: The missing inventory could be due to theft, damage, or book keeping errors. in the county in 1992. If the job growth forecasts of Hensley and Kyser are accurate, the current 8.3 percent unemployment rate could breach double-digits this year, given the expected 81,000 net increase in the number of people entering the local work force, due either to immigration immigration, entrance of a person (an alien) into a new country for the purpose of establishing permanent residence. Motives for immigration, like those for migration generally, are often economic, although religious or political factors may be very important. or graduation from high school or college, according to state projections. Meanwhile, local companies that are hiring find themselves besieged be·siege tr.v. be·sieged, be·sieg·ing, be·sieg·es 1. To surround with hostile forces. 2. To crowd around; hem in. 3. by applicants. Smith's Food and Drug, which has opened nine supermarkets in the Southland south·land or South·land n. A region in the south of a country or an area. south  land·er n.Noun 1. in the last four months, has been inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. by job-seekers. "We had 200 openings in our La Puente La Puente (lä pwĕn`tē), city (1990 pop. 36,955), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; laid out 1841, inc. 1956. Primarily residential, the city manufactures hardware, electronics, and paper products. store, and we received 4,000 applications," said Jim Carr
Smith's Food jobs pay between $4.75 and $14.20 an hour for most positions, although meat-cutters can earn up $15.48 an hour, said Carr. And when Brad Mark International, a Century City-based entertainment industry headhunting headhunting Practice of removing, displaying, and in some cases preserving human heads. Headhunting arises in some cultures from a belief in the existence of a more or less material soul that resides in the head. firm, recently advertised to fill an internal position, "We received 125 resumes," said Louise Colman, administrative assistant. "We ended up interviewing 15 people before hiring one." Today's job-hunters look serious, said Carr of Smith's Food. "They really want the job. You see more dressed up in a tie, a nice clean dress shirt on, instead of just a T-shirt," he said. He added, "It is unbelievable how many of the applicants said they have been laid off from jobs they had 10 years or 15 years, due to plant closings or whatnot what·not n. 1. A minor or unspecified object or article. 2. A set of light, open shelves for ornaments. pron. ." The job picture and outlook is so tough that it is wearing down the normally bullish Angeleno economic psyche, according to the Economic Direction Index produced by Plog Research in Reseda. Plog Research asks people whether their economic condition is better than a year earlier. At 100 or above, the index predicts economic growth; at below 100 it suggests economic contraction An economic contraction is a reduction in goods and services for sale in the market place. Typically it relates to a downturn in production caused by external factors such as weather or a decline in exports, or by such internal factors as taxes, regulatory constraints or other , said Plog. The index for Southern California was 89 in the third quarter of 1991 but sagged to 45 in the fourth quarter, said Stan Plog. His firm surveys 85,000 people a year, weighted towards upper-income groups, who Plog said are the drivers of the U.S. economy. "The average income of respondents is about double the national average," said Plog. "They have discretionary income Discretionary Income The amount of an individual's income available for spending after the essentials have been taken care of. Notes: Essentials are things like food, clothing, and shelter. (money left after taxes and necessities) to spend or not spend, and thus they are very important to the economy." Plog entitled his December report in the economy, "Recession Continues!" To be sure, there have been changes in the way local unemployment statistics have been compiled since 1951. And newspapers have come and gone, which would influence the volume of help-wanted advertising in the Los Angeles Times, upon which the Conference Board help-wanted index is based. That makes the Times help-wanted ad index a wiggly barometer of the local job scene. But, if anything, the volume of help-wanted ads placed in the Los Angeles Times has been artificially boosted -- relative to the economy -- over the years, as other papers have fallen by the wayside, noted economist Wolff. "The job picture is probably even worse than portrayed by even the drop of help-wanted ads in the Times," Wolff said. Still, confusing matters, today there are ethnic papers in Los Angeles, including Chinese, Korean and Hispanic, that may be siphoning job ads off from the Times, said Kyser of the Economic Development Corp. "It's probably pretty much a wash," said Kyser. "The Times is probably the same indicator of the local job market it ever was." But when help-wanted ads fall 42 percent in one year -- as the Times' ads did from 1990 to 1991 -- both Kyser and Wolff agreed a big shift in employment opportunities had occurred. Said Wolff: "You know something serious is going on when ads drop 42 percent." |
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