Record employment levels of 1990s will soon be surpassed.

With L.A.'s economy poised to continue its moderate growth track for the rest of this year and into next year, north Los Angeles County and the Hollywood/Mid-Wilshire district have emerged as the star performers.

And once again South Los Angeles is expected to be a laggard.

The county is on track to add about 50,000 jobs--a growth rate of 1.2 percent--for all of 2007, according to a mid-year forecast update released last week by the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. With these additional jobs, L.A. County should finally surpass the record employment levels reached in 1990, just before a deep recession.

"It's been a long road back for L.A. since 1990," said Jack Kyser, chief economist of the non-profit development corporation. "On the one hand, that's quite an achievement. But on the other hand, one might ask why it took so long."

Despite the milestone, the pace of job growth is slowing from 2006, when 68,000 jobs were added at a 1.7 percent growth rate. That was the best year since 2000. The report said the slumping housing market is acting as a drag on overall job creation.

The unemployment rate for 2007 is still expected to hover near its record low of 4.7 percent. And total personal income growth will still be a fairly robust 5.7 percent.

Getting much of the credit for this is strong performance in the commercial aerospace sector, business and professional management services, bio-medicine, technology and tourism, which all received grades in the "A" range on the report's semiannual industry report card.

But, the forecast warned, "there are pot-holes aplenty" that could shift these numbers down, including labor unrest and the slowdown in the housing market and related fallout from the subprime lending crisis, which could hit areas like the Antelope Valley and lower income communities hard.

For now, though, the Antelope Valley, with its relatively small employment base, is the best performer in the county with job growth expected to be 4.1 percent in 2007. Kyser said a robust aerospace sector is offsetting the decline in construction-related jobs.

Coming in right behind, at 3.9 percent job growth, is the Hollywood/Mid-Wilshire section of Los Angeles. "A lot of people are moving into the area and the new media sector concentrated there is thriving, as is Koreatown," Kyser said.

The eastern part of the San Fernando Valley--including the entertainment job cluster in Burbank and Studio City--should see strong job growth of 3.4 percent for the rest of this year. However, Kyser warned that the threat of labor actions in the industry is already prompting studios to stockpile film and television shoots, which could drive down growth next year.

Meanwhile, job growth on the Westside should be a respectable 2.1 percent, to a record 440,000 jobs. Low office vacancy rates and a booming professional/business services sector are key drivers.

Lagging behind the county average is South L.A., which is expected to turn in flat job performance this year. "There just doesn't seem to be much movement in South L.A., despite years of meetings and initiatives designed to stimulate the area," Kyser said.

BY HOWARD FINE

Staff Reporter