A combine harvester makes its way through a wheat field in Suisun Valley, Friday, June 19, 2020. Solano County added 200 farm jobs in May, according to the state Employment Development Department. (Robinson Kuntz/Daily Republic)
Unemployment drops in May; 20,000 fewer Solano jobs than 2019
FAIRFIELD — Solano County is slowly waking up from a hard Covid-19 sleep as unemployment fell from 15.2% in April to 14.2% in May, the Employment Development Department reported Friday.
The number of local jobs climbed to 125,400, a gain of 1,800 over April’s figure, the Labor Market Division of the EDD reported.
However, compared to May 2019, there are 20,200 fewer local jobs, the EDD reported.
One of the more promising figures was that construction added 1,000 jobs since April, now 12,400, though it is down 400 jobs compared to May 2019.
Restaurants also added 1,000 positions, to 8,000. The farm sector added 200 jobs, to 1,500.
The harder reality is being felt in retail, which dropped another 200 jobs to 14,000, the EDD reported.
The civilian labor force in Solano County was reported at 199,800, down from April’s total of 201,500. However, the number of residents employed went up 200 to 171,300, the EDD reported.
The number of residents seeking unemployment benefits in May was 28,400, which is 2,000 fewer than in April.
The state unemployment rate in May was 15.9%, down from 16.2% in April. The rate in May 2019 was 3.6%.
The U.S. unemployment rate was 13%, down from 14.4%. The jobless rate in May 2019 was 3.4%.
Unemployment numbers in Solano County, the state and across the nation saw these improvements as counties across the country began to lift business closures put in place in March to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19.
Those businesses in Solano County that reopen must maintain health, safety, sanitation and social-distancing protocols designed to slow the spread of the virus. Residents must also comply with an order this week from the governor to wear face coverings in public spaces, businesses and offices – both indoors and outdoors – based on criteria established by the state. Continue reading Solano jobless rate in May: a little better than April, much worse than 2019→
Bureau of Labor statistics comparing March to February
San Francisco sees biggest increase: 31%
KQED News, by Nina Sparling, May 9, 2020
Restaurant and retail workers have been hard hit during the pandemic. (Getty Images)
Gary Darst lost his job at Pläj in late March. The Scandinavian restaurant in Hayes Valley in San Francisco depends on nearby institutions like the opera, symphony and SFJAZZ Center for much of its business. When those venues went dark in early March, Darst started to worry.
“The thing about the restaurant industry is that you’ve always got a job,” he said. “It’s relatively safe. At least it used to be.”
First, the restaurant furloughed Darst for a few weeks in mid-March. Not long after, all 20 employees were laid off. Darst filed for unemployment insurance immediately — one of hundreds of thousands of Bay Area workers to do so.
But county-level unemployment data show the pandemic is impacting each Bay Area county in a unique way. Those with the lowest unemployment rates have also seen the highest increase in unemployment insurance claim filings — and vice versa.
San Francisco, for instance, has a high percentage of professional and white-collar workers, many of whom continue to work from home and receive a paycheck. The unemployment rate in the county was 3% at the end of March, on the lower end for the Bay Area, according to a KQED and Associated Press analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
“It could be driven by the fact that you have white-collar jobs that have kept their jobs, kept their pay, and other workers who haven’t,” Sylvia Allegretto an economist at the Institute for Research on Labor and Employment at UC Berkeley said.
Many Bay Area workers have lost their jobs, but the region as a whole is faring much better than the national average. The unemployment rate for the Bay Area as a whole was 3.5% in March compared to 4.5% nationally at the same time. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics puts the April national unemployment rate at 14.7%, the highest since 1948.
While that number is alarming, Allegretto emphasizes the context behind the numbers. “We came together as a nation collectively to shut down the economy as we start to try to deal with a pandemic,” she said. “If I didn’t see high rates of unemployment I’d wonder why are all these people working.”
San Francisco saw a 31% increase in how many unemployment claims were filed in March compared to February. That could reflect the large numbers of restaurants and bars in San Francisco, which were among the first businesses to shutter after the Bay Area-wide shelter-in-place order on March 16, Allegretto says.
“It can hold both ways,” Allegretto said.
Meanwhile, the eastern Bay Area counties show the opposite trend: higher rates of unemployment, but lower increases in unemployment insurance claim filings from February to March.
Solano and Sonoma counties have the highest percentage of workers in construction and retail, industries that have been heavily impacted by COVID-19.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers are not seasonally adjusted, meaning they don’t account for expected increases around the busy holiday season for retail workers or seasonal fluctuations in construction.
Allegretto warns that it’s early yet to draw definitive conclusions. The April report reflects unemployment insurance filings through the end of March, just when the economy started to wind down. The full implications of COVID-19 on the workforce have only grown more acute.
April saw furloughs at Bay Area oil refineries. Tech companies like Uber and Airbnb announced layoffs in early May. City and county budgets are suffering, too. California cities project losses of $6.7 billion in the two years, and Bay Area cities know layoffs might be in the future.
Darst, the restaurant manager, first started working in restaurants at age 14. But he isn’t counting on being able to return to work in the industry any time soon.
“It’s a disaster,” he said. “It’s really bad.”
Below are various KQED resource guides that can help those who have lost their jobs and income due to the pandemic:
Californians who are missing work because of the novel coronavirus can access benefits, including unemployment. Benefits are not only for people who have been laid off, they also apply to caregivers, those who are quarantined and workers whose hours have been reduced.
Some self-employed people will not qualify for unemployment insurance, particularly artists who rely on informal, direct cash payments or practice without a business license. With those challenges in mind, KQED compiled a list of mutual aid funds that distribute emergency grants to artists, creative professionals and freelancers facing financial hardships.
From restaurants and bookstores to dry cleaners and hair salons, small businesses are a big deal in the U.S., employing nearly half of the nation’s workforce. Most of these institutions, which were already operating on razor-thin margins, have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic. And without major assistance, many simply won’t be able to weather their economic losses. This guide lists some of the lifelines Bay Area businesses can try to take advantage of.
Some of who’ve lost their jobs might be worried about paying their rent. This guide has some answers to common questions about renters and tenants protections in the Bay Area.
