California has now seen 117 months of job expansion. The statewide unemployment was 3.7 percent in November. When adjusted for seasonal swings, the statewide unemployment rate was 3.9 percent.

The state Employment Development Department said California has gained 3.4 million jobs since the expansion began in February 2010, accounting for more than 15 percent of the nation’s 22.5 million new jobs over the same time frame.

Lynn Reaser, chief economist for the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University, said the recent numbers show San Diego County entering 2020 with strong job momentum. She cited the region’s military, tourism, health care and technology sectors as pillars that will support future growth.

“San Diego is poised to end 2019 celebrating its economic strength based on the latest jobs numbers,” she said. “Companies are still hiring additional workers and more people are coming off the sidelines to enter or re-enter the job market.”

The San Diego metropolitan area has seen the fastest annual job growth in the region, said an analysis by Beacon Economics, at 2.3 percent. It was followed by Inland Empire (2.1 percent) and Los Angeles (1.7 percent).

The most job gains in the last 12 months in San Diego County have come in professional and business services, which added 8,200 jobs. Jobs in the category include architecture and engineering, scientific research and other technical services.
Other big growth areas have been in government with 7,800 jobs, construction with 6,600 and educational and health services with 6,500 jobs.

As it has for months, the San Diego County position with the most job advertisements was retail salespersons.

Other jobs with the most advertisements were software developers (applications) with 1,419; First-line supervisors of retail sales workers with 1,238 ads; registered nurses with 1,084 ads; and customer service representatives with 1,024 ads.

The employer with the most advertisements was UC San Diego with 1,824 job advertisements. It was followed by Qualcomm with 903 ads; Macy’s with 527 ads; Northrop Grumman with 503 ads; and Sharp Healthcare with 427 ads.

State labor officials do not seasonally adjust jobless rates for individual counties, but the unadjusted numbers show San Diego County’s 2.9 percent rate was one of the lowest in the region. The unemployment rate was 3.8 percent in Riverside County, 2.5 percent in Orange County and 4.2 percent in Los Angeles County.

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San Diego County companies with the most job advertisements
• University of California, San Diego - 1,824
• Qualcomm - 903
• Macy’s - 527
• Northrop Grumman - 503
• Sharp Healthcare - 472
• Marriott - 425
• General Dynamics - 313
• Booz Allen Hamilton - 308
• San Diego State University - 300
• General Atomics - 294

Source: Source California Employment Development Department