VALLEY PROFITING FROM JOB INFUSION; SURVEY FINDS SHIFT TO DURABLE GOODS.

Byline: Enrique Rivero Daily News Staff Writer

The number of San Fernando Valley jobs in the high-paying end of the manufacturing sector increased nearly 13 percent from 1995 to January, according to a report to be released today, while the county's manufacturing base actually dropped during that time.

The number of jobs in durable goods manufacturing - that is, those people who make things like furniture and electronics - increased by 7,195, or nearly 13 percent, according to the report from the Economic Development Corp. of Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, jobs making nondurable goods such as clothing, chemicals and drugs grew at a much slower pace - by 1,146, or 3.5 percent - since 1995.

This shift in the Valley's economy toward the durable manufacturing sector is a healthy shift, economists said Thursday.

``If you have a slant it's toward durables, and that is good news because durable goods jobs pay more and have more benefits and what have you,'' said Jack Kyser, chief economist for the nonprofit corporation.

Bob Scott, a vice chairman of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association and vice president of the city Planning Commission, agreed that the survey is good news for the Valley. He said bigger paychecks mean more opportunities for home ownership, which equates to more economic and social stability.

Workers making more money ``have more of an investment in the community and the investment means it strengthens the community,'' he said.

Kyser said a job making apparel paid an average of $8.55 an hour in 1998. But in electronics or the aircraft industries, pay could range from $17.88 to $31.09 an hour on the assembly floor.

Most of the growth in the durables sector occurred in the West Valley, where there has been ``definite spurt'' in the number of advanced tech companies choosing to locate there, Kyser said.

``You've seen a lot of new development that would be attractive to new tech firms,'' Kyser said.

There were 62,640 durable manufacturing jobs in the Valley at the end of 1998. Of those, 34,417 were in the East Valley and 28,223 in the West Valley. That is up from 55,445 - 31,922 in the east and 23,523 in the west - in 1995.

In the nondurable sector, there were 33,764 jobs - 22,247 in the east, 11,517 in the west - in 1998. That's up from 32,618 in 1995 - 21,143 in the east and 11,475 in the west.

Total manufacturing jobs in the Valley rose about 9.5 percent to 96,404 from 88,063.

In the county as a whole, however, manufacturing jobs dropped about 1.1 percent to about 631,100 from about 638,400 in 1995. Still, Kyser pointed out that Los Angeles County has more manufacturing jobs than Chicago, the second-largest concentration of manufacturing jobs in the nation.

Despite the area's economic growth, the latest numbers don't compare with those from 1991, when the Economic Development Corp. began the survey.

That year, there were 126,592 manufacturing jobs in the Valley, 89,258 of them in the durables sector.

After that, the Valley's economy suffered along with the state as company after company left California.

``We've got a long way to go if we want to get back to the peak,'' Kyser said. ``And another message is, you have to be aggressive when you do economic development.

``You do that when times are good and when times are bad.''