“Survey Says” looks at various rankings and scorecards that assess geographic locations, noting that these numbers are best viewed as a mix of artful interpretation and data.
fuss: The number of jobs in Napa grew 6.9% in the year ending January, the country’s fourth-fastest hiring rate.
Source: Viewed my trusted spreadsheet metro employment data in early 2023 for 389 metropolitan areas.
Topline
Napa bosses added 4,700 workers to 72,900 in the year. Napa’s unemployment rate was 3.9%, down 0.9 points on the year.
Only two Texas metropolitan areas – Midland (11.4% job growth) and Odessa (7.8%) – and Manhattan, Kansas (7.3%) experienced higher hiring rates in January.
Metros with the most jobs in 12 months were New York (375,200), Dallas (234,100), Los Angeles-Orange County (218,400), Houston (152,900), and Chicago (122,400).
Details
California employers added 594,500 workers statewide in the 12 months ending January, up 3.5% to nearly a record 17.77 million. Only Texas (668,000) added more workers nationwide.
The cooling economy and many employers restoring pre-pandemic workforces have slowed hiring. California job growth was 8.5% in January 2022.
California bosses are also challenged to find talent. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 4.6%, down 1 percentage point on the year.
It boils down
Napa’s success is part of a somewhat strange California trend: Despite the news of layoffs in Silicon Valley and the tech industry, these statistics show that Northern California bosses are boosting payrolls at the fastest pace in the state.
When ranking 26 California metropolitan areas for job growth in a single year, San Diego was the only Southern California job market in the top 10 statewide.
Here’s how 25 subways (not including Napa) did, ranked by job growth…
Madeira: 4.9% – 2,000 jobs in a year to 42,900. The unemployment rate stood at 7.5% in January, down 0.2 percentage point over 12 months.
Yuba City: 4.8% – 2,300 up to 50,400, unemployment 8.1% – down 0.1 point.
Fresno: 4.3% – 15,900 up to 382,500, unemployment 7.5% – down 0.5 point.
San Diego: 4.2% – 62,700 up to 1.55 million, unemployment 3.7% – down 0.9 point.
San Jose: 4.2% – 46,700 up to 1.17 million, unemployment 3.1% – down 0.5 point.
Saint Nicholas: 4.2% – 8,200 up to 204,900, unemployment 3.6% – down 0.7 point.
Salt lakes: 4.1% – 5,700 up to 144,100, unemployment 8.8% – down 0.9 points.
Hanford: 4% – 1,600 up to 41,500, unemployment 8.7% – down 0.4 point.
San Luis Obispo: 4% – 4,600 up to 118,900, unemployment 3.5% – down 0.6 point.
El Centro: 3.8% – increase from 2,100 to 57,000, unemployment 16.2% – increase of 1.3 points.
Santa Cruz: 3.8% – 3,700 up to 99,900, unemployment 6.2% – down 0.4 point.
LA-Orange County: 3.6% – 218,400 up to 6.25 million, unemployment 4.6% – down 1.4 points.
Stockton: 3.4% – 9,100 up to 273,200, unemployment 6.3% – down 0.7 point.
San Francisco: 3.3% – 79,300 up to 2.48 million, unemployment 3.3% – down 0.7 points.
Visalia: 3.3% – 4,400 up to 138,300, unemployment 9.9% – up 0.4 point.
sacramento: 3.2% – 32,900 up to 1.06 million, unemployment 4.3% – down 0.7 point.
Merced: 3.1% – 2,100 up to 70,800, unemployment 9.7% – down 0.3 points.
Santa Barbara: 2.8% – 5,300 up to 195,300, unemployment 4.5% – down 0.7 point.
Vallejo: 2.8% – 3,800 up to 139,100, unemployment 4.8% – down 1 point.
modest: 2.7% – 4,800 up to 185,500, unemployment 6.5% – down 0.5 point.
Bakkersveld: 2.4% – 6,700 up to 287,400, unemployment 8.1% – down 0.3 points.
chico: 2.4% – 1,800 up to 77,200, unemployment 5.6% – down 0.2 point.
Ventura Province: 2.1% – 6,300 up to 311,400, unemployment 4.2% – down 0.7 point.
Inland Empire: 2.1% – 33,900 up to 1.66 million, unemployment 4.4% – down 1 point.
red thing: 1.8% – 1,200 up to 68,800, unemployment 5.7% – down 0.4 point.
Jonathan Lansner is the business columnist for the Southern California News Group. He can be reached at [email protected]
