Los Angeles County Business Scan
The Kyser Center for Economic Research
Overall Outlook - Last Updated January 6, 2010
Click on any indicator for more details. Blue highlight : Recently updated
Indicator |
Most recent period |
Current reading |
Year earlier reading |
Annual % change |
Unemployment Rate |
Nov 2009 |
12.4% |
8.9% |
+3.5 pp |
Construction Employment |
Nov 2009 |
122,800 |
137,400 |
-10.6% |
Technology Employment |
Nov 2009 |
89,600 |
93,000 |
-3.7% |
Professional, Scientific, and Technical Employment |
Nov 2009 |
288,500 |
296,500 |
-2.7% |
Finance and Insurance Employment |
Nov 2009 |
146,100 |
151,300 |
-3.4% |
Health Services Employment |
Nov 2009 |
352,100 |
348,000 |
+1.0% |
Fashion/Apparel Employment |
Nov 2009 |
75,100 |
83,400 |
-10.0% |
Ocean Container Traffic (Twenty-foot Equivalent Units) |
Nov 2009 |
1,028,357 |
1,217,506 |
-15.5% |
Airport Passenger Traffic |
Oct 2009 |
5,390,144 |
5,345,771 |
+0.8% |
Single Family Housing Construction Permits |
Sep 2009 |
156 |
262 |
-40.5% |
Multifamily Housing Construction Permits |
Sep 2009 |
170 |
696 |
-75.6% |
Median Home Prices |
Nov 2009 |
$329,000 |
$359,240 |
-8.4% |
Revenue per Available Room (REVPAR) |
Oct 2009 |
$102.98 |
$127.55 |
-19.3% |
Industrial Vacancy Rate |
3Q 2009 |
3.21% |
2.3% |
+0.9 pp |
Film Production Days |
3Q 2009 |
10,507 |
13,175 |
-20.3% |
The unemployment rate for Los Angeles County continued its upward trend by rising to 12.4 percent (SA) in the month of November. Nonfarm employment had job reductions totaling -141,900 from November 2008. Year over year employment losses were evident in nearly all of the major employment sectors; health services was the only exception. November container traffic at both the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach decreased; aggregate container traffic for both ports stands -15.5% below last year. The demand for construction permits for single family housing decreased by -40.5% year-over-year and permits for multi-family housing actually plunged by -75.6%. Median Home values in Los Angeles County continued to slide (-8.4%) on an annual basis, now similar to April 2003 price levels. On a positive note, passenger traffic at the combined L.A.-area airports actually increased year-over-year, up by +0.8% in October. Revenue per available hotel rooms (REVPAR) in October showed a year-over-year decline (of -19.3%). The industrial vacancy rate in Los Angeles County increased in the third quarter of 2009 from the same period in 2008. Total film production days in Los Angeles County decreased in the third quarter of 2009 from a year earlier as well.
Unemployment Rate  *updated*
November 2009: 12.4 percent
November 2008: 8.9 percent
The Los Angeles County unemployment rate (SA) increased in November. LA County’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was higher than California’s rate (12.3 percent) in November.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
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Construction Employment  *updated*
November 2009: 122,800 employees
November 2008: 137,400 employees
Los Angeles County construction employment decreased by -10.6 percent in November compared to a year earlier. Construction employment in LA County has had consecutive year-over-year declines every month since August 2007.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Construction is comprised of NAICS code 23.
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Technology Employment *updated*
November 2009: 89,600 employees
November 2008: 93,000 employees
Technology employment in Los Angeles County decreased by -3.7 percent in November from the same period last year. The decrease in jobs from a year earlier were found in all areas (with the exception of software publishing); computer and electronic product manufacturing (down -5.6 percent to 50,700); software publishing (up +5.6 percent to 5,700); computer systems design and related services (down -1.4 percent to 28,500); and in internet services (down –5.6 percent to 5,400). Technology employment has shown a consecutive year-over-year decrease since January 2007.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Technology is comprised of NAICS codes 334, 5112, 5118, and 5415.
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Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services Employment *updated*
November 2009: 288,500 employees
November 2008: 296,500 employees
Professional, scientific, and technical services employment (including computer systems design and related services) in Los Angeles County decreased by -2.7 percent in November from 12 months earlier. Employment in this sector has decreased year-over-year every month since June of 2008.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Professional, scientific, and technical services sector is comprised of NAICS codes 54(except 5415).
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Finance and Insurance Employment *updated*
November 2009: 146,100 employees
November 2008: 151,300 employees
Finance and insurance employment in Los Angeles County in November decreased by -3.4 percent from a year earlier. November marks a thirty-seven month long period of consecutive year-over-year decreases in finance and insurance employment, reflecting the continuing turmoil in the financial industry and for mortgage lenders.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Finance and insurance are comprised of NAICS code 52.
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Health Services Employment  *updated*
November 2009: 352,100 employees
November 2008: 348,500 employees
Health services employment in Los Angeles County increased by +1.0 percent in November from a year earlier. This was the only industry sector to show an increase in employment during the first eleven months of 2009. Employment increased in health care (+0.5 percent to 402,000), while social assistance employment fell by -2.8 percent to 55,400 employees over the same period.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Health services are comprised of NAICS code 62 (except 624) and 3524.
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Fashion/Apparel Production and Wholesale Employment *updated*
November 2009: 75,100 employees
November 2008: 83,400 employees
Fashion industry employment in Los Angeles County in November decreased by -10.0 percent from a year earlier with a total of 75,100 employees. Jobs decreased in textile mills (-8.0 percent to 8,100), apparel manufacturing (-13.8 percent to 46,300) and apparel wholesaling employment by -1.0 percent.
[View graph]
Source: California Employment Development Department (http://www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov)
Fashion employment is comprised of NAICS codes 313, 315, and 4243.
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Ocean Container Traffic *updated*
November 2009: 1.028 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)
November 2008: 1.218 million TEUs
Container traffic at the combined Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles in November fell by -15.5 percent from a year earlier. However, it was the fifth consecutive month that the combined ports recorded over a million TEUs.
November was another month where year-over-year decreases in total container traffic at the combined ports took place; there hasn’t been an increase in TEU activity since July 2007. Loaded inbound containers had the largest decrease, plummeting by -13.1 percent to 527,104 TEUs last month from a year earlier. Loaded outbound containers increased by +11.4 percent to 263,431 TEUs from a year earlier; it was the second consecutive month displaying an increase after a consecutive twelve month decline. Empty containers were down by -36.5 percent in November, reaching 237,802 TEUs compared to the 374,308 TEUs from the same period in 2008.
Container traffic decreased in November at both the Port of Los Angeles (-12.1 percent to 580,206 TEUs) and more severely at the Port of Long Beach (-19.6 percent to 448,151 TEUs) from 12 months earlier. The Port of Los Angeles continued its two month streak of year-over-year increases in loaded export containers. The Port of Long Beach ended its fourteenth consecutive year-over-year decline in loaded export containers (+4.0 percent).
[View graph]
Sources: Ports of Long Beach (http://www.polb.com/about/port_stats/latest_monthly_teus.asp) and Los Angeles (http://www.portoflosangeles.org/factsfigures_Monthly.htm)
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Airport Passenger Traffic *updated*
October 2009: 5.390 million passengers
October 2008: 5.346 million passengers
Passenger traffic for the combined LA County airports of Burbank, Long Beach, and Los Angeles increased in October by +0.8 percent from 12 months earlier. October marked the second consecutive month of year-over-year increases in passenger volume after eighteen months of declines. Passenger traffic increased by +1.7 percent at LAX (to 4.8 million) while passenger traffic decreased by -7.6 percent at Burbank (to 387,235) and fell by -0.8 percent at Long Beach (to 241,277).
[View graph]
Sources: Burbank (http://www.burbankairport.com), Long Beach (http://www.longbeach.gov/airport/airport_statistics/default.asp), and Los Angeles (http://www.lawa.org/lax/volTraffic.cfm) Airports
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Single Family Housing Construction Permits
September 2009: 156 permits
September 2008: 262 permits
Single family housing construction permits in Los Angeles County decreased by -40.5 percent in September from a year earlier. Single family housing construction permits have experienced year-over-year decreases every month since August 2006.
[View graph]
Source: Construction Industry Research Board (http://www.cirbdata.com/)
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Multifamily Housing Construction Permits
September 2009: 170 permits
September 2008: 696 permits
Multifamily housing construction permits in Los Angeles County plummeted by -75.6 percent in September from 12 months earlier falling to a total of 170 multifamily permits.
[View graph]
Source: Construction Industry Research Board (http://www.cirbdata.com/)
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Median Existing Home Prices *updated*
November 2009: $329,000
November 2008: $359,240
The median price of homes in Los Angeles County decreased by -8.4 percent in November from a year earlier. LA County median home prices have had consecutive year-over-year decreases every month since September of 2007. However, the median price in November was higher than that of October 2009 ($325,000).
[View graph]
Source: California Association of Realtors (http://www.car.org/)
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Hotel Revenue per Available Room (REVPAR) *updated*
October 2009: $ 102.98 REVPAR
October 2008: $ 127.55 REVPAR
Hotel revenue per available room (REVPAR) in Los Angeles County decreased by -19.3 percent in October from the same month a year earlier. This marks the fourteenth consecutive decrease after a long period of monthly increases. REVPAR had increased year-over-year in LA County every month from June 2003 to August 2008 (61 months) with the exception of May 2007 (which was down by -1.4%). Hotel occupancy rates were down by -4.8 percentage points from October of last year, reaching 73.1 percent occupancy (marking the eighteenth consecutive month of year-over-year declines). October average daily room rates fell by -15.2 percent from the same period in 2008, dropping to $140.84.
[View graph]
Source: PKF Consulting (http://www.pkfonline.com/)
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Industrial Vacancy Rate
Third Quarter 2009: 3.2 percent
Third Quarter 2008: 2.3 percent
The Los Angeles County industrial vacancy was above 3.0 percent for the first time since the first quarter of 2004 with its 2009 second quarter vacancy rate at 3.1 percent and remained above 3.0 percent in the third quarter. The slowing economy has weakened demand for industrial space in all parts of Los Angeles County. The Downtown area saw its industrial vacancy rate increase by +0.7% year-to-year, Mid-Cities by +1.6%, San Fernando Valley by +0.9%, South Bay by +0.4% and the San Gabriel Valley had the largest rise in industrial vacancy, increasing by +1.8 percentage points over the third quarter of last year.
[View Graph] [View Graph - By Area]
Source: Grubb & Ellis (http://www.grubb-ellis.com/research/reports.aspx)
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Film Production Days (Quarterly)
Third Quarter 2009: 10,507 production days
Third Quarter 2008: 13,175 production days
Total film production days in Los Angeles County decreased by -20.3 percent in the third quarter of 2009 from the third quarter of 2008. Production increased for both feature films (+37.4 percent to 1,708) and commercials (+19.4 percent to 1,349 days) and declined for television (-32.3 percent to 4,784 days).
[View graph]
Source: FilmL.A. (http://filmlainc.com/html/data.html) and Santa Clarita Film Office (http://www.santa-clarita.com/cityhall/cd/ed/film/office.asp)
Figures represent permitted days of location filming in the City of Los Angeles, unincorporated Los Angeles County, West Hollywood, Diamond Bar, Santa Clarita, South Gate, Angeles National Forest, and Los Angeles Unified School District facilities.
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