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Sonoma County unemployment soars to 7 percent
Ritz Food Service of Santa Rosa abruptly closed its doors on Wednesday after a half century of service to health organizations, schools and restaurants, one sign of the difficult economy in Sonoma County
Kent Porter / The Press DemocratPublished: Friday, January 23, 2009 at 11:18 a.m.
Last Modified: Friday, January 23, 2009 at 7:37 p.m.
Sonoma County’s unemployment rate hit 7 percent in December, foreshadowing a brutal job market in 2009.
“We can expect to see more layoffs,” said Ben Stone, director of county Economic Development Board. “We’ve got some dismal times ahead.”
The local economy shed 2,000 jobs over the past year as employers cut workers and froze hiring, according to a report issued Friday by the state Employment Development Department.
Half of the job losses came from the county’s battered construction sector, where housing starts have dropped to historic lows.
Retailers, who normally expand their payrolls over the holidays, also scaled back in anticipation of bleak Christmas sales. Merchants actually cut 200 jobs between November and December — a time when they normally hire 500 workers, said Devla Singh, an EDD labor analyst. Over the past year, the retail sector has shed 400 jobs.
The government sector lost 900 jobs over the past year as cash-strapped public agencies stopped filling vacancies. Manufacturing and tourism also saw declines.
Last month’s 7 percent jobless rate was the highest for December since 1992 and the highest for any month since 1995. Unemployment was 6.5 percent in November.
But the worst might not be over. Sonoma County will lose more than 4,000 jobs this year and unemployment will reach 8 percent, according to a forecast by Moody’s Economy.com.
Unemployment has grown steadily as meltdowns in the housing and finance sectors spread to the rest of the economy. About 19,100 Sonoma County job-seekers were unable to find work in December, compared to 12,400 a year ago, when the jobless rate stood at 4.7 percent.
More than 300 job-seekers showed up Jan. 5 at Sonoma County’s employment assistance center, said Karen Fies, who heads the program. Normally, the center gets 60 to 70 clients a day.
“It was a record-breaking day for us,” she said.
Layoffs have accelerated since the first of the year, as employers waited until after the holidays to give workers the bad news. Ritz Food Service, a 50-year-old Santa Rosa wholesale distributor with 170 employees, shut last week after struggling with declining sales.
Still, Sonoma County’s job market is stronger than the state’s. California unemployment, adjusted for seasonal factors, jumped to 9.3 percent in December, up from 5.9 percent a year ago. Only four counties had lower unemployment in December: Marin, at 5.4 percent; San Mateo, 5.9; Orange, 6.5; and San Francisco, 6.6.
The local labor market looked very similar to the rest of the nation, where the U.S. jobless rate was 7.1 last month.
There were some bright spots in December’s report. Sonoma County gained 500 business and professional jobs over the past year, while health care was up 100.
The mortgage industry has seen an uptick because of low interest rates and demand for refinancings, said Mary Lynn Bartholomew, manager of Spherion Corp.’s staffing agency in Santa Rosa.
The insurance and non-clinical health care sectors also are holding steady, she said. Still, most job orders are for temporary positions and there are far more job seekers than openings, Bartholomew said.
“There are a lot of really qualified people out there,” she said.
The employment picture could start to improve later this year if the Obama administration’s economic stimulus effort works, said Robert Eyler, a Sonoma State University professor who heads the SSU Center for Regional Economic Analysis.
“If the stimulus package is done correctly, it will have a positive impact,” he said.
In Mendocino County, the jobless rate climbed to 8.7 percent last month, up from 7.9 percent in November. A year ago, unemployment was at 6.4 percent.
In Lake County, unemployment was 13.1 percent, compared to 12.4 percent in November. A year ago, it was 9.6 percent.
Combined, there were 7,320 people unemployed in Mendocino and Lake counties last month, up from 5,260 a year ago.
You can reach Staff Writer Steve Hart at 521-5205 or steve.hart@pressdemocrat.com.
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