Employment gains for Capital Region

The housing market is blamed for the slight increase in unemployment for the month of September. There are a few less construction worker and mortgage lenders in the area and I suspect many real estate agents will start looking for a steady paycheck. Still, jobs in other sectors grew and the Sacramento region added 1,700 new payroll jobs for the month. The labor department does not account for us who are self-employed.

The state continued to add 9,300 new people to payrolls although the positions were not in construction, which lost 29,000 jobs since last year. Statewide unemployment increased a tenth of a percent, to 5.6 percent according to the Employment Development Department. A year ago the rate was 4.8 percent.

Besides another off year for real estate the rest of the economy is doing historically well. “For the most part, we’re not seeing the loses spreading to other industries at this point.” Said David Lyons, a labor consultant for EDD. That’s must be with the exception of real estate sales, lending, construction, hardware sales and anything else having to do with real estate.

If I were an unemployed construction worker, I think I would start thinking about the San Diego region. The devastating fire and loss of 1,700 homes will require skilled workers.