Job Growth Strong Despite EDD Stats

ORANGE, CA—‘We believe the current monthly job growth in both California and Orange County is underestimated,’ says a report from the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research at Chapman University. Current monthly employment statistics issued by the Employment Development Department suggest the pace of job growth has slowed significantly in California and Orange County, but the EDD’s sampling methodology doesn’t fully capture job creation by newly established small firms and hiring by existing firms that add only one or two workers, according to the report.

As GlobeSt.com has reported previously, Orange County’s unemployment figures have outperformed the national average for quite some time, and the university’s report says that steady job creation, lower unemployment rates and higher equity and home values have brightened consumer sentiment in California. Its survey of California consumer sentiment hit its highest reading since the beginning of the recession in the fourth quarter of 2007.