Solid Job Growth Is Posted by State

California employers added a net 31,100 jobs in February, the state reported Friday, an impressive increase that underscored reports of the state’s general economic health.

“There was a nice jobs gain over a broad sweep of industries,” said state Department of Finance chief economist Howard Roth. “Thumbs up.”

The unemployment rate, calculated by interviewing households, rose to 5% from 4.8% in January.

Roth dismissed that as a statistical aberration. In February 2005, the unemployment rate was 5.6%.

Ten of the 11 sectors tracked by the state’s Employment Development Department reported seasonally adjusted job gains, led by professional and business services with a net boost of 10,800 and information with a 4,400 increase.

The one sector that didn’t add jobs was natural resources and mining, in which employment was unchanged.

Construction added 4,000 jobs, suggesting that a widely predicted slowdown in housing-related job creation had yet to begin.

As the housing boom continues to cool, however, that may change. The U.S. Commerce Department reported Friday that new-home sales across the nation fell in February by the biggest amount in almost nine years, a much worse showing than predicted.

Some economists say a weaker housing market could suppress employment. As consumers lose the ability to use their home equity as an ATM, their reduced spending could drag down the retail sector and, as a result, retail hiring.

Sean M. Snaith, director of the business forecasting center at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, said that view was too pessimistic.

“Housing has been portrayed as this linchpin that, if pulled out, will collapse the entire economic house of cards,” Snaith said. “I think that’s an inaccurate portrayal, and this data bears that out.”

February’s employment growth handsomely outdid the revised January net increase of 16,800 jobs. The average monthly increase in 2005 was 19,475 jobs, a little more than the level of growth needed to keep pace with a swelling labor force.

Economist Roth said he was most impressed by the performance of three subcategories of business services: computer system design, scientific and technical consulting and scientific research and development. They gained a combined 16,400 jobs over the last 12 months.

“They’re good, high-paying jobs,” the economist said.

If things are generally good, it doesn’t necessarily feel that way. Spherion Corp., a staffing company, released poll results Friday that indicated that workers’ expectations in California were continuing to diminish.

Only 21% of those polled said they thought more jobs were available than before, down from 26% in January. The percentage of those who thought the economy was getting stronger had a similar decline. The survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive.

“People in general are just a little nervous about the job market and the economy,” said Ralph Henderson, senior vice president of the Western division of Spherion. “It’s slow and steady. They’d like it to be more robust, and then they could feel very good about it.”

The number of people unemployed in California in February was 879,000. That was up 20,000 over the previous month, but down 109,000 from February 2005.

Of the unemployed, 312,700 were laid off and 89,700 had quit, the Employment Development Department said. The rest were reentering the labor market or entering it for the first time, or had completed temporary jobs.

The non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in Los Angeles County was 5.5%, unchanged from January. Orange County posted California’s lowest jobless rate, at 3.6%, up from 3.5% in January.

Among other Southland counties, San Diego posted a 4.1% unemployment rate, followed by Ventura at 4.4% and Riverside and San Bernardino, both at 4.7%.

The highest jobless rate was 17.6% in agricultural Colusa County in the northern stretch of the Central Valley.