LOS ANGELES: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation’s (LAEDC) has said in its latest report that more than 2.6 million jobs were at high or medium risk in the area.
“When crisis befalls our region, having access to current, relevant and actionable information is helpful to all of us who want to play a role in helping the region get through this,” Bill Allen, CEO of LAEDC, told Xinhua news agency.
“The health and economic crisis we are facing are unprecedented in our lifetimes and the added burden of being socially-distanced makes it all the more challenging,” Allen said, referring to the COVID-19 outbreak.
On Monday, LAEDC shared the latest report from its Institute for Applied Economics (IAE), which crunches regional data on labor statistics, unemployment, business registrations, manufacturing, taxes, trade, import & export, population demographics and any other pertinent variables needed to arrive at a better understanding of the current state of Los Angeles economy and workforce and their near-term future prospects.
As unemployment claims in all of California already topped a million two weeks ago with no end in sight, LAEDC summarized the job loss risks in the report in details.
At “highest risk” are 1.123 million jobs in the entertainment, recreation, arts, accommodation, food services, tourism, personal care services, and retail trade categories. These industries are the heart blood of Los Angeles and comprise 25 per cent of Los Angeles area jobs.
The next category, “high risk” includes trade, construction, manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and accounts for 934,200 local jobs, or 21 per cent of the workforce.
Meanwhile, 585,460 jobs are at “medium risk” in the real estate and leasing, professional, scientific and technical services and mining, oil and gas extraction categories.
There were 1.82 million jobs considered “low risk”, predominantly in the healthcare and social assistance, company management, agriculture, forestry, fishing & hunting, educational services, waste management, financial activities, and government and public administration categories.
The “high risk” job loss also showed that demographic factor played a key role in local economy.
From San Fernando, Antelope Valley, West LA to San Gabriel, the loss rate is estimated to range from 42.5 percent to 47.2 per cent, while job losses in the largely Hispanic and African American neighbourhoods in East LA, South LA and South Bay areas are projected to soar to 50 per cent or 60 per cent.
Hispanics make up 56.3 percent of the hotel and hospitality industry and 48.6 per cent of the food and drink industry — both decimated by the pandemic.
Caucasians make up 45.4 per cent of the entertainment industry, also torpedoed, while Asians average out at 15.8 per cent of jobs across the board in the high risk categories, with African Americans at 8 per cent.
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