SAN DIEGO—San Diego Regional EDC reports that San Diego's unemployment rate dropped to 3.3% in November, adding 12,100 non-farm jobs counting for 50,038 unique job postings since October. Seasonal hiring is largely responsible for this market's impressive job-growth numbers, which could cause wages to increase as well, according to Manpower San Diego's president and CEO Phil Blair.

“Seasonal hiring helped push the unemployment rate to a low we haven't seen in 17 years,” said Blair in a prepared statement. He added that with the labor market this tight, wages can only go up.

The retail trade had the largest month-over-month increase of all the employment sectors in the market, the organization reports, while the leisure-and-hospitality sector saw greater decreases in jobs in November than it saw in October—although not as much of a dip as September saw for this sector.

Other highlights from the report include the following:

San Diego's unemployment rate is a full percentage point below the November 2016 rate of 4.3% and the lowest since December 2000.
Every jurisdiction saw a decline in its unemployment rate in November. El Cajon and Imperial Beach saw the largest declines, both dropping 0.7%.
The labor force added 4,800 workers in November, after shedding a similar number in October. The labor force is up 8,600 compared to a year ago.
Year-over-year, real estate, rental and leasing growth outpaced all other key sectors, up 5.5%.

With these new figures, San Diego's unemployment rate is lower than the national average. As GlobeSt.com reported earlier this month, the US unemployment rate now hovers at around 4.5%, the lowest in many years, and the recent construction-labor shortage continues to deepen across the nation, according to the latest government report. This workforce has not grown significantly during the last nine months, and researchers see no sign of an increase. Therefore, industry professionals expect wages to increase at a faster rate. Furthermore, they believe many builders will begin using new construction technologies to offset that challenge.

Instant Insights /

San Diego Unemployment Hits 17-Year Low

Related Stories

Recommended For You