Strawberries Sweeten Job Picture

Reflecting a brightening national economy and the local strawberry harvest, Ventura County employers added 4,400 jobs last month as unemployment plummeted.

The number of local jobs had fallen during the previous two months, but February’s sharp increase made up those losses and resumed a pattern of monthly gains that had dated back to 1996.

The county’s jobless rate fell from 5.5% in January to 4.7% in February, compared with a February figure of 6.4% in California and 6.1% nationwide, without seasonal adjustments.

There were 19,800 jobless workers last month out of a work force of 423,900, a higher number of unemployed than seen in February 2001 or 2000 but very low from a 10-year perspective.

Compared with a year before, jobs were up 6,800 in February, with growth nearly even between farm and nonfarm employment.

“The state and national recovery is certainly underway, and there’s a spillover effect here,” said Mark Schniepp of the California Economic Forecast in Santa Barbara. “We still are doing particularly well in Southern California. We predicted a spring recovery, so this is no surprise.”

Yet the biggest job gains were apparently fueled by a robust strawberry harvest, which rolled in early because of mild weather and a larger planting for the winter.

Farm-related employment increased by 2,800, to 23,200, in a month.

Farms employed 3,300 more workers in February than in the same month in 2001.

“We have more acres of the early strawberries, so that may account for some of that,” said Kerry DuFrain, deputy agricultural commissioner for the county.

Overall, the county has 10% more acres in strawberries this year than last.

Off-the-farm employment increased by 1,600 jobs during the month, with local education accounting for 500, manufacturing adding 400 and the service industry 400.

The local economy is riding out the downturn better than the state and nation because heavy manufacturing and Internet businesses, the nation’s weakest sectors, are not big employers in Ventura County.

“I’ve never found anything fundamentally wrong with the economy,” Schniepp said. “There was a lot of knee jerk after Sept. 11, but Southern California hasn’t shown any systemic problems, and the same with Ventura County. It’s just amazing how the [Ventura Freeway] technology corridor remains so resilient.”

Ventura County’s unemployment rate was 12th lowest in the state, while Orange County ranked third and San Diego County fourth, with rates of 3.6% and 3.7%. Los Angeles County’s rate of 6.4% was 24th.

San Luis Obispo County ranked first out of 58 counties with a 3.1% jobless rate.

Schniepp said he expects steady job growth for the rest of the year, with the only impediment being the availability and affordability of housing.