TURLOCK — Employment in the San Joaquin Valley has continued to rise, even while the prolonged drought has worsened, according to the new Business Forecast released by CSU Stanislaus economist Gokce Soydemir.
According to the report, Valley employment grew 1.95 percent, which is significantly higher than the long-run average rate of 1.19 percent. It is also higher than the previous year’s growth of 1.71 percent.
“Had there been no drought, employment levels in the Valley would have been undoubtedly higher,” Soydemir’s report said.
Employment grew but at different rates. Fresno County added jobs at the fastest rate of 2.90 percent, the report found. Merced County was the second fastest at 2.33 , followed by San Joaquin and Tulare counties . Stanislaus and Kings counties grew at speeds close to the Valley average of 1.95 percent. Employment growth in Madera and Kern counties was much slower compared to other counties in the Valley.
Soydemir said that employment conditions that had prevailed since the end of the recession in 2011 began to change this year. For example, for the first time since the recession, construction was no longer the Valley’s leading category of employment in 2015. Instead, the trade, transportation, and utilities employment sector — which includes warehouse and distribution — took the lead, registering 5.01 percent growth.
Manufacturing employment also performed better in 2015 than in 2014 and grew faster than the state and national averages, according to the report.
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