Employment Dynamics

Employment and Unemployment Rise and Create Unusual Pattern in Sierra Nevada

Why is it important?

The dynamics between the employed, unemployed, or not in the labor force indicate if the local economy is strong enough to employ all who want to work. Those not in the labor force are too young to work, retired, disabled, tending to their families, or independently wealthy.

They may be volunteers for community organizations, but some may enter the labor force if low unemployment causes wages to rise. When employment rises, unemployment normally declines. When jobs grow faster than population, people may either commute into the region for work or hold more than one job. When population grows faster than jobs, increasing proportions are either retired or commuting to jobs outside the region.

How are we doing?

Steady job growth and declining unemployment indicate that the Sierra Nevada economy has been strong since 1993. However, after 2001 both employment and unemployment rose, creating a highly unusual pattern. This may have occurred as a result of the collapse of the Bay Area economy, as people moved to the Sierra Nevada and brought with them both jobs and unemployed family members.

This graph also shows that more Sierra Nevadans are not in the work force. This means our region has a large pool of volunteers who can strengthen communities by joining service organizations.

The North Central has the strongest job growth. This is the only region where the number of people who work equal the number not in the work force. In the other three regions, many more people are not in the labor force than there are employed.