Still, we are a long way from a pre-pandemic economy. Ventura County lost about 22,000 jobs between 2019 and 2020, enough to wipe out the previous six years of job growth. In some ways, this recession nearly mirrored the one that started in 2008. Back then, the worst of the job losses hit the manufacturing and other goods-producing sectors, while the leisure and hospitality industry and other service-sector industries gained jobs. In 2020 and 2021, restaurants and other public-serving establishments bore the brunt of the pandemic-related public health orders and had to reduce their workforces.

Because it was brought on by such an unusual trigger, the pandemic recession does not look like other economic downturns. Salaries in almost every industry in Ventura County grew substantially between 2019 and 2020. At first glance, that might look like good news, but it happened because low-paying jobs were eliminated in mass quantities, which pushed up the average salary of the jobs that remained.

Ventura County’s lack of job growth affects its environment and quality of life. We have not added significant quantities of jobs for most of the past decade-plus, even though our unemployment rates stayed low. That means one of two things, or some combination of them: the workforce is shrinking as the population ages; and more Ventura County residents are employed outside of the county. The latter factor has led to longer and longer commutes for many Ventura County residents, as illustrated in the Transportation domain of the 2021 State of the Region report.