Name: San Diego County unemployment estimated at 27%
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San Diego County unemployment estimated at 27%

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Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement An estimate of San Diego County’s jobless rate near the end of April was 27 percent — surpassing unemployment numbers not seen since the Great Depression. The San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, came up with the figure using federal and statewide data and applying it to San Diego County. During the Great Recession, the county hit a record high of 11.1 percent in 2010. While local records are not available that far back, the national rate during the Great Depression hit a high of 24.9 percent in 1933.SANDAG estimates there are more than 450,000 unemployed residents in San Diego County as of April 25, with about 400,000 losing their jobs since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States after the first week in March. Ray Major, chief economist at SANDAG, said a bright spot in the numbers could be that many jobs will return when the economy reopens. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Monday that some low-risk businesses, such as bookstores and other retailers, can open back up Friday. AdvertisementStill, Major said it is anticipated some jobs will not come back because businesses will shutter due to financial losses during the pandemic. He said many industries will not be making as much money, and will not be able to have as many employees, with fewer tables at restaurants and similar situations across businesses to slow the virus spread. “I could see double-digit unemployment in the San Diego region for at least for the next year,” he said Wednesday. Major said that tourism, a large employer in San Diego, will not have as much demand considering traveling during a pandemic is probably not on the top of consumers’ to-do lists and profit margins at retail businesses are likely to get even tighter. Several San Diego County retailers this week that they anticipated trouble trying to rehire workers, many of whom are , and were confused by state government guidelines if they actually could reopen. His organization’s model is an early estimate of what official totals will be from state labor officials. California’s Employment Development Department releases county data once a month but is taken from a fixed date in the middle of the month. So, data often lags behind more than a month once it is released. The most recent figures from the state show San Diego County at a 4.1 percent unemployment rate.SANDAG’s model looks at the type of jobs people have at the ZIP code level, and uses nationwide and statewide claims for unemployment insurance to estimate where the job losses are. The analysis shows areas where low-income workers live to be the hardest hit. More affluent county communities appear to have weathered the storm better with more work-from-home options. It said unemployment in Logan Heights was the highest at 37.5 percent. It was followed by College Area at 32.8 percent and San Ysidro at 32.4 percent. The least affected areas were Sorrento Valley at 22 percent, Scripps Ranch at 21.6 percent and Del Mar at 21.5 percent. “This pandemic did not hit each sector of the economy equally,” Major said. SANDAG said they are releasing jobless estimates so governments and people can figure out quickly where what areas need the most aid. Research by the Washington, D.C.-based Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative at the Brookings Institution, estimated almost one in five children are not getting enough to eat. The data used surveys of mothers at the end of April that found parents were more likely to not have enough money for food than during the Great Recession. “It is clear that young children are experiencing food insecurity to an extent unprecedented in modern times,” the report said. Get U-T Business in your inbox on Mondays Get ready for your week with the week’s top business stories from San Diego and California, in your inbox Monday mornings. You may occasionally receive promotional content from the San Diego Union-Tribune. Show Comments Load More Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement

Copyright © 2022, The San Diego Union-Tribune | | AdvertisementAdvertisement An estimate of San Diego County’s jobless rate near the end of April was 27 percent — surpassing unemployment numbers not seen since the Great Depression. The San Diego Association of Governments, or SANDAG, came up with the figure using federal and statewide data and applying it to San Diego County. During the Great Recession, the county hit a record high of 11.1 percent in 2010. While local records are not available that far back, the national rate during the Great Depression hit a high of 24.9 percent in...

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Phillip Molnar

PhillipMolnar

The San Diego Union-Tribune, the region's leading news source since 1868. Follow our journalists, too: http://j.mp/UTstaff

San Diego County unemployment estimated at 27%

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