Bad Decade for San Diego Employment

Jobless rate more than doubled

Employment gains in San Diego are apparently sputtering. The National University System Institute for Policy Research says after three consecutive years, the number of employed in San Diego in 2010 matches the levels in 2001.

"We have pretty much wiped away the job increases we saw in the 2000's," said NUSIPR's Economist/Senior Fellow Kelly Cunningham.

The report shows the unemployment rate grew from 4.2 percent in 2001 to 10.6 percent in 2010.

San Diego needs to add 224,000 jobs over the next decade to reduce the number of unemployed, the researchers said. Cunningham says it will take another five years to get just to back to the pre-recession peak.

Job seekers are advised to check out growing industries in San Diego and get training in those fields, like high-tech and healthcare positions.

"We are seeing job growth again, but you have to have the right jobs," Cunningham said.

San Diego is also seeing growth in the bio-tech/bio-med, telecommunications, defense, and transportation areas. In contrast, San Diego is seeing fewer jobs in the construction and manufacturing industries, Cunningham said.

We are seeing two-tiered job wages, high salaries in the high-tech fields and lower salaries in the hospitality fields, San Diego's two main areas of growth. We are just not seeing a lot of middle-income jobs, he said.

Cunningham said out of all of the major cities the group researched Washington D.C. has the strongest economic growth.

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