As businesses ramp up hiring, here’s why Stanislaus County remains stagnant
Unemployment in Stanislaus County held steady in April, following a statewide trend of stagnancy despite job gains across most industries.
The county’s April unemployment rate came in at 8.7%, down from 8.8% in March, according to data released by California’s Employment Development Department. County-level data is not seasonally adjusted.
Unemployment stayed steady at 8.3% at the state level, with no changes from March to April. Nationally, the jobless rate rose slightly to 6.1%, up from 6% the month before, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Jeff Michael, director of the Center for Business and Policy Research at the University of the Pacific, said the stagnancy in both the local and statewide recovery shows “the labor market is running into a few challenges.”
“As things reopened and we restarted the process of hiring back workers, restarting is proving to be slower,” he said. “It’s more complex. The demand (for jobs) is there, and right now the supply is sort of lagging behind.”
Employers across the state and county are speeding up hiring — especially in industries like leisure and hospitality, which were hardest hit at the outset of the pandemic. In April, California added 101,800 non-farm jobs, and Stanislaus County gained 1,600.
Job gains across the state were concentrated in the leisure and hospitality industry, which accounted for over half of the jobs added. Still, most industries are still posting deficits when compared to the months before the pandemic, and Michael said, “There’s still room for growth.”
Stanislaus has fewer tourism and hospitality jobs in comparison to coastal counties, so Michael said major gains in those areas will affect the Central Valley less.
Gov. Gavin Newsom recently announced that California will lift its mask mandate and social distancing requirements on June 15, setting the stage for what economists predict will be a strong recovery in the second half of 2021. Though the reopening plans are cause for optimism, Michael said, he cautioned that the June date won’t immediately be followed by a noticeable shift in the economy.
“It’s just another sign that puts things back on track to a path to recovery,” he said, “but there’s been a lot of adjustments so there’s still a lot of things for businesses and families to sort through. ... Consumers have got money to spend, and they’re anxious to get out there and start doing things again.”
This story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
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This story was originally published May 23, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
