STATE JOB PICTURE BRIGHTENS.Byline: Gregory J. Wilcox Daily News Staff Writer More signs of economic vigor emerged as California's unemployment rate sank to 7.1 percent in July, its lowest level since January 1991. But 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's jobless rate edged up 0.3 percent to 8.1 percent, the California Employment Development Department said Friday. While dipping 0.7 percent from the July 1995 rate, the state's jobless figure is still 1.7 percent higher than the nation's. Yet it was 3 percent higher at the end of 1993. Analysts said the statistical mixed bag suggests a continuing economic recovery, and the increase in the local unemployment rate is not significant enough to cause concern. ``My take is that the expansion continues to move along at a good clip,'' said David Hensley, an economist who tracks California for New York-based Salomon Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . ``It's remarkably well-balanced and there are really no dark clouds on the horizon. I think California is very well positioned over the next six to 12 months,'' he said. Hensley expects California's job growth this year to hit 2.5 percent to 3 percent. Gains in the food processing Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw ingredients into food for consumption by humans or animals. The food processing industry utilises these processes. industry, which benefited from a strong harvest, set the pace for the state's employment growth. Six other sectors - government, finance, insurance, real estate, construction, and wholesale and retail trade - also were in a hiring mode. Overall, 14.4 million California residents took home paychecks compared with 14.2 million in July 1995. Meanwhile, the number of unemployed Californians fell to 1.1 million, also the lowest level since January 1991. Hensley said most of the state's job expansion during the last year has been fueled by Silicon Valley's high-tech industries. But that could flatten out Verb 1. flatten out - become flat or flatter; "The landscape flattened" flatten change form, change shape, deform - assume a different shape or form splat - flatten on impact; "The snowballs splatted on the trees" in the coming months as capacity starts to exceed demand. ``The slowdown in the technical sector we speculated about in April now appears to be taking hold,'' Hensley said. In Los Angeles County, 4,027,000 people held jobs during July, unchanged from a year ago, said Peter Force, a state labor market 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 analyst. He said he is not troubled by the slight uptick Uptick A transaction occurring at price above its previous transaction. In order for an uptick to occur, a transaction price must be followed by an increased transaction price. in the local jobless rate, and sees it as an indication that more people are back in the job market looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. work. ``It's held steady for the last year to a year-and-a-half, averaging about 8 percent,'' Force said. ``It's a relatively stable number.'' The region's economy is seeing strong growth in the service sector, especially business services and motion picture production, he said. Over the past 12 months, 29,000 new business service jobs were added locally, he said. The county has gained about 86,000 jobs over the past 12 months but the durable goods durable goods Goods, such as appliances and automobiles, that have a useful life over a number of periods. Firms that produce durable goods are often subject to wide fluctuations in sales and profits. Also called consumer durables. manufacturing sector, which includes aerospace, remained flat, Force said. Last month, about 355,000 Los Angeles residents were unemployed in aerospace, compared with 340,000 in July 1995. Tom Lieser, associate director of the Business Forecasting Project at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management, said the state and local numbers indicate a positive trend. ``It's a good report. I think Los Angeles is definitely on the upswing Upswing An upward turn in a security's price after a period of falling prices. ,'' he said. |
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