Agriculture Provides Only 0.5 Percent Of All Employment In Orange County, However The Industry Gained 600 Jobs In 2002

Orange County is situated along 42 miles of southern California coast; Los Angeles County lies to the north, and San Diego County lies to the south. Riverside and San Bernardino counties border to the east. The county’s incorporated cities are mostly located in the northwest area, stretching south along the coast. Orange has extensive transportation facilities including airports, railroads, and freeways. The freeway system connects the county’s labor force to employment centers in Los Angeles as well as providing extensive access within county borders. Orange County is second only to Los Angeles County in population for California counties. According to the Department of Finance’s population estimates, the county’s population exceeds 2.9 million, a gain of 1.6 percent or 48,300 persons over 2002 estimates. The cities of Newport Beach, San Clemente, and Irvine recorded the highest growth rates; all three increased inpopulation by more than 5 percent. Newport Beach added almost 8,000 new residents for growth of 10.7percent. Santa Ana and Anaheim are Orange’s largest cities with populations of 347,200 and 337,400 respectively.By the year 2020, population projections estimate Orange County will grow to 3.5 million.As population grows, Orange continues to record steady gains in labor force. According to 2002 data, the county’scivilian labor force totals 1.5 million, with an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent. This is significantly lower thanthe state’s unemployment rate of 6.7 percent for the same year. Orange County is home to a number of major industriesand service organizations. The largest industry employers are trade, transportation and utilities, professional and business services, and manufacturing. Of these, trade,transportation and utilities is the largest employer, accounting for 18.6 percent of the county’s total employment. Within the industry, most of the jobs are in retail trade (152,400), as well as wholesale trade (81,300). Professional and business services provide close to 250,000 jobs (17.7 percent of all employment); almost half of these are in administrative and support services. Manufacturing, the third-largest industry employer in Orange, provides 13.5 percent of all employment. The industry has recorded declines in recent years; the total number of jobs in 2002 declined by 18,500, down to a total employment of 190,000. Durable goods manufacturing recorded the greatest job loss, (14,800 jobs); a majority of the loss occurred in computer and electronic product manufacturing.Although some of the county’s industries recorded declines in 2002, others continue to grow. Orange County’s fastest growing industries include: construction, leisure and hospitality, and agriculture. Construction gained 13,900 jobs over the years 1998 to 2002 for growth of more than 21 percent. From a total of 65,300 jobs in 1998, the industry has grown to a total employment of 79,200 in 2002. Most of the growth has been in the specialty trade contractors component, which added almost 12,000 jobs over these years. The county’s leisure and hospitality industry has added jobs each year since 1998, resulting in growth of more than 18 percent. The 2002 employment, 156,400, is an increase of 24,500 jobs over 1998 totals. Agriculture provides only 0.5 percent of all employment in Orange County, however the industry gained 600 jobs in 2002 and has added a total of 1,100 jobs since 1998.Civilian unemployment includes persons who are not working but are able, available, and actively looking for work. Individuals who are waiting to be recalled from a layoff, and individuals waiting to report to a new job are also considered to be unemployed. The unemployment rate is the number of unemployed as a percentage of the labor force. Over the years 1998 to 2000, Orange’s rate declined, remaining significantly lower than the rate for California. In the year 2001, this rate increased slightly, followed by a more significant increase (1.1 percentage point) in 2002. Unemployment rates in California and San Diego County followed a similar pattern; both recorded increases in 2001 and 2002.Labor force data, as shown below, accounts for civilians who are age 16 or older and who are working or looking for work. Orange’s annual figures show a gain in labor force of 124,600 persons since 1998. Employment and unemployment, also below, reflect the employment status of individuals by place of residence. Counts of employment by place of work are referred to as industry employment totals (see pages 5 and 6).Over the years 1998 to 2001, Orange County’s industry employment added 115,100 jobs, cumulative growth near 9 percent. Then, in the year 2002, the county recorded an overall loss of 10,100 jobs, a decline of 0.7 percentage point. Declining industries included: natural resources and mining; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; and information. Losses in these industries were offset by gains in: agriculture; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; and government. California recorded a similar decline in 2002, (-0.9 percentage point), while San Diego County recorded growth of 0.8 percentage point.During the period 1998–2002, the largest growth industry in Orange County was professional and business services, increasing from 220,300 in 1998 to 249,200 in 2002. A large portion of the growth (15,400) was posted in the administrative and support services component. Leisure and hospitality increased by 24,500 jobs, with food services and drinking places contributing 14,000. The third largest growth industry, government added 18,700 jobs, with local government payrolls accounting for 15,500 or 83 percent of the gain.In the table below, Orange County’s industry employment totals are given for the period 1998–2002. Employment grew in most industries, except natural resources and mining, and manufacturing. In the year 2002, trade, transportation and utilities, professional and business services, and manufacturing were the county’s predominant industry employers.Together, these industries accounted for almost 50 percent of all employment. Trade, transportation and utilities made up the largest share, 18.6 percent; most of the jobs were in retail trade. Professional and business services provided almost 18 percent of the total, while manufacturing made up 13.5 percent. Within manufacturing, 133,000 jobs were in durable goods manufacturing, while 57,000 jobs were provided by the manufacture of nondurable goods.California has 58 counties and a variety of industries that contribute to its economy. Information services, hightechnology manufacturing, agriculture, and entertainment are a few examples of the broad range of economic productivity in the state. In 2002, the civilian labor force grew by 221,700, an increase of 1.3 percent over 2001 figures, bringing the total labor force to more than 17.4 million persons. The unemployment rate increased from 5.4 percent in 2001 to 6.7 percent in 2002. Overall, industry employment in California declined by 128,900 jobs in 2002. Industries recording job losses included professional and business services (60,500 jobs) and information services (53,500 jobs). Components of these industries reporting the largest declines include computer systems design and related services (-29,700 jobs); management of companies and enterprises (-18,800 jobs); Internet service providers and Web search portals (-17,900 jobs); and telecommunications (-12,100 jobs).Industries reporting gains included government (66,000 jobs added) and education and health services (52,700 jobs gained). Within these growing industries, the majority of gains were in the following components: local government education (33,600 jobs); ambulatory health care services (22,400 jobs); county government (9,300 jobs); general medical and surgical hospitals (9,300 jobs); nursing and residential care facilities (6,500 jobs). For the period 2000-2010, California employment projections show that total nonfarm employment is expected to increase by at least 3.2 million jobs, or 22.2 percent. Although growth is projected for every industry, some job loss will occur in smaller sectors of mining, manufacturing, and transportation. California’s population is 36.5 million residents, according to the California Department of Finance’s preliminary estimates for January 2003 . These new data reflect a 5.0 percent increase over the 2000 Census data that recorded the state’s totalpopulation at 33.9 million.