Report Forecasts Five-Year Job Surge in County

A new report from Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. predicts that the county’s economy will create 346,100 new jobs during the next five years. The highest projected percentage growth will occur in the construction, business services, education, health care and hospitality industries, according to the report titled “People, Industry and Jobs.” Administrative jobs and food service jobs are projected to have the largest total job growth, adding 115,770 and 114,680 jobs respectively. The hardest industries to break into will include apparel manufacturing, motion picture and sound recording, air transportation, broadcasting as well as performing arts and spectator sports. Most of the job openings over the next five years will require lower levels of education and training, the report found. “Although we are seeing some job growth in high-paying industries, it is clear that not enough of our projected job gains are skilled, well-paying jobs that will support middle class incomes,” Christine Cooper, LAEDC senior vice president and head author of the report, said in a statement. “We need to work together to change this trajectory by fostering job creation in our leading export-oriented industries, which tend to pay higher wages and strengthen regional prosperity overall.”