San Diego County unemployment in March hit its lowest level since December 1999, said state labor officials and local analysis.

The upside: San Diego’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 3.1 percent in March, said Lynn Reaser, chief economist for the Fermanian Business & Economic Institute at Point Loma Nazarene University. That is the lowest in 18 years. The San Diego region added 27,100 jobs in a year, said state labor officials.

California’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.3 percent in March, and the nationwide rate was 4.1 percent.

What the numbers mean for job seekers: Now is the time for discouraged San Diegans without a job to get out there and start looking, said Phil Blair, owner of San Diego staffing agency Manpower. He said this is an opportunity for students, and people discouraged by the job market, to get a job to build their resume — because they won’t have this opportunity again when the unemployment rate goes back up.

What it means for employers: Blair said it’s tough for many employers to admit, but they are already lowering the bar for workers. “We’ve all gotten spoiled,” he said. “For so long we said we want someone with five years experience, this degree and (Master of Business Administration). And we could get it. Those days are gone.”

How it could affect workers: Reaser said the tight job market should translate into larger raises for workers, but it also puts a strain on companies trying to grow their businesses. She said while job growth is not very high, it doesn’t necessarily mean companies aren’t hiring — it could be they couldn’t fill positions.

Where people are hiring: Employers with the most job advertisements in March were UC San Diego (1,967 jobs), Robert Half International (880 jobs), General Atomics (629 jobs) and Marriott (536 jobs), said the state Employment Development Department.

What is in demand: Occupations with the most job advertisements, said state officials, were software developers (1,362 jobs), registered nurses (1,279 jobs) and retail salespersons (1,096 jobs).

Growth areas: State officials said the biggest job gains came from education hiring from February to March. It said 700 new education jobs came from local hiring and 400 from state government. Also, leisure and hospitality added 1,000 jobs in the month-long period.

Declines: The trade, transportation and utilities sector had the biggest decline with 900 jobs. The industry includes retail, general merchandise and grocery stores.

The big picture: In a year-over-year basis, the biggest growth area was professional and business services — including agricultural, engineering and related services — with 8,400 jobs. The only category to lose jobs, a decline of 1,300, was leisure and hospitality.

The Qualcomm factor: Cellular technology giant Qualcomm announced layoffs of 1,231 in San Diego this week as part of a cost-cutting plan. Alan Gin, economist at University of San Diego, said this is a better time for the layoffs to happen (as opposed to the Great Recession). He said employers are looking for highly skilled workers and it could be a boon for companies struggling to fill positions.

“I think this will give some firms an opportunity that wanted to hire people but couldn’t convince people to come out to San Diego where housing costs are so high,” he said. “If you could get someone laid off from Qualcomm, that already has a house here and committed to the community, that might make it easier.”

How we compare: State labor officials do not seasonally adjust jobless rates for individual counties, but the unadjusted numbers show San Diego County has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the region in March at 3.2 percent. The jobless rate in Los Angeles County was 4.1 percent, 3.9 percent in San Bernardino County, 2.8 percent in Orange County and 4.2 percent in Riverside County.

Source: SDuniontribune by Phillip Molnar