After two years, Stanislaus County recovers all jobs lost during COVID-19 pandemic
Stanislaus County has recovered all jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, new unemployment numbers show.
Data from the state’s Employment Development Department shows April’s unemployment rate at 5.1%, down from a revised 5.7% in March. Local data is not seasonally adjusted. Statewide, the unemployment rate came in at 4.6%, down from 4.8% in March.
Nationally, the unemployment rate held steady at 3.6%, unchanged from March, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In April 2021, Stanislaus’ unemployment rate was 9.5%, while California’s was at 8.3%.
Jeff Michael, the director of public policy programs at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, told The Bee that the county has firmly reached the kind of permanent economic recovery that economists have been anticipating for months. While not the first inland county to experience a full recovery, Michael said Modesto and Stanislaus are ahead of many of the state’s coastal regions, as well as cities like Bakersfield that are still bouncing back.
“Modesto has recovered all the jobs lost in this cycle, which is excellent news and certainly a milestone,” Michael said.
The county currently employs 227,500 individuals, compared to 227,700 in February 2020, the last month before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
What’s even more impressive, Michael said, is the unemployment rate, which at 5.1% is significantly lower than the county’s unemployment rate in April 2019. In the last prepandemic spring, Stanislaus had a jobless rate of 6.4%.
“We can anticipate that we’ll see record low levels of unemployment as we progress through the summer and into the into the fall,” he said.
Stanislaus’ economy — which heavily depends on essential industries like agriculture, transportation and manufacturing — has been steadily recovering since the initial unemployment spike in March 2020. The region’s high percentage of key jobs and workers, and comparatively small leisure and hospitality industries, put it in a good place for recovery and growth throughout the past two years.
Still, the economic aftereffects of the pandemic will be felt for years to come. With inflation rising and supply chain issues affecting the nation, he said there’s always a chance of greater impact locally.
But, Michael said, “this most recent cycle didn’t hit the Modesto area quite as bad as some other areas, and that may also be the case for what we see going forward.”
To help fund The Bee’s economic development reporter with Report for America, go to https://bit.ly/ModestoBeeRFAThis 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.
This story was originally published May 21, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
