The Sacramento Region posted positive annual job growth for most of the last two quarters of 2011

The six-county Sacramento Region saw positive annual job growth for the last five months of 2011, reflecting substantially improved economic conditions compared to the end of 2010. Preliminary data show a net increase of 7,300 Nonfarm jobs on payrolls in the Region over the 12 months ending December 2011. This equates to a growth rate of 0.9 percent, which continued to rank below the statewide and national averages. Sacramento’s positive job growth is due, in large part, to performance in its five largest sectors, four of which are now in positive territory. The Educational & Health Services sector posted robust job growth in December 2011 with substantial gains in health care activities and modest growth in private education. Professional & Business Services has posted an upward job growth pattern, moving back to positive growth for the last two months of 2011. Gains in this sector have been driven by the administrative and support services components. While the Leisure & Hospitality sector experienced a notable dip in job growth in the latter part of 2011, it continued to post annual job gains as a result of growth in accommodation and food services. The Trade, Transportation, & Utilities sector crept back up to modest positive growth by the end of 2011. This consumer-driven sector is finally experiencing gains in the dominant retail trade component. The Region’s Government sector sat in essentially a no-growth position at the end of 2011 with state and federal government losses balanced out by gains in local government education activities.

Job growth at the statewide and national levels flattened-out over the fourth quarter of 2011 after maintaining a general upward pattern since the middle of 2010. The state posted 1.7 percent job growth in December 2011 with a gain of 242,000 payroll jobs. The nation’s 1.3 percent job growth reflects an increase of 1.7 million jobs between December 2010 and 2011. The SF Bay Area tracked close to the statewide average job growth in the last quarter of 2011, ending the year at 1.7 percent job growth. This rate equates to an annual increase of 46,500 jobs. The Stockton market experienced rapid improvement since July 2011 and saw December 2011 job growth exceed the statewide average at 1.9 percent (a 3,600-job gain). The Solano market recovered from a substantial job growth dip in the middle of 2011, reaching positive territory in December 2011 with 0.7 percent job growth (an annual increase of 800 jobs).

Major Sector Annual Job Gains and Losses Data Source: CA Employment Development Department

Six of the Sacramento Region's 11 major sectors saw annual job gains at the end of 2011

Only four of the Sacramento Region’s major sectors posted annual job losses in December 2011. Together with the large Government sector, the Region’s Manufacturing; Other Services; and Mining & Logging sectors generated a total net loss of 2,900 jobs between December 2010 and 2011. Gains in Sacramento’s Educational & Health Services sector (5,500 jobs) more than compensated for the combined loss in the four negative sectors. The Professional & Business Services and Construction sectors also added a substantial number of jobs in the 12 months ending December 2011. The recovery in the Region’s Construction sector is limited primarily to non-residential building activities (the residential and specialty trade contractor components continue to see annual job losses). The net annual gain of 7,300 jobs put the Sacramento Region’s total Nonfarm employment at 846,700. This is a similar employment level to the Region’s economy in late-2000 and early-2001. This level is roughly 107,000 jobs below the June 2007 peak.

The state’s three leading job gains sectors in December 2011 included Professional & Business Services; Educational & Health Services; and Trade, Transportation, & Utilities. It is interesting to note that the Government sector saw a net annual gain at the statewide level with local government education gains surpassing losses in the rest of the public sector activities. Annual job losses in the state were confined to the Manufacturing; Financial Activities; and Other Services sectors in December 2011. The SF Bay Area posted the greatest annual job gains in the Professional & Business Services; Educational & Health Services; and Information sectors in December 2011 with only the Financial Activities sector showing notable losses. The Stockton market’s leading growth sector between December 2010 and 2011 was Trade, Transportation, & Utilities with all components posting annual gains (wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and warehousing, and private utilities). Only Educational & Health Services (a leading sector statewide) and Other Services posted annual losses in this market in December 2011. The Leisure & Hospitality sector posted the greatest gains in the Solano market between December 2010 and 2011 and the Government sector saw the most pronounced losses.