State job counters released their revised job stats, and the new math finds extra agony in O.C.’s real estate and finance businesses. By your blogger’s analysis of this new count, local bosses in real estate/finance work have cut a total 26,000 workers, or 10%, from the O.C. property-related industries since employment in these niches peaked in September 2006. The true pain is likely greater as many real estate/finance workers are self-employed or contractors who aren’t in the state’s tally.
Looking at the revised stats on an annual average basis, the new figures found 5,500 more real estate/finance job losses vs. old data. That means 2007, on average, had 10,000 fewer O.C. real estate/finance workers than ‘06, a 4% drop. As of January ‘08, real estate/finance employment (234,600) was at a three-year low. (CLICK HERE to read how the same new job count found a hard year-end slide in overall O.C. employment.)
Key contributors to the real estate/finance jobs recession are no surprise. Lenders, primarily mortgage makers, have been ravaged as their O.C. employment is off 17,500 job, or 32%, from its peak in December 2005. Construction work is down 11,700 jobs, or 10.6%, from its peak in September 2006.
Here’s a look at key slice of the O.C. real estate/finance world in terms of January employment and how far off that job count is vs. each item’s individual, recent peak in each niche …
| Job slice | Last mo. | Vs. Peak | Vs. Peak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction | 98,700 | -11,700 | -10.6% |
| • Construct buildings | 23,300 | -1,800 | -7.2% |
| • Heavy construction | 8,100 | -1,100 | -12.0% |
| • Specialty trades | 67,300 | -8,900 | -11.7% |
| Lending activities | 37,600 | -17,500 | -31.8% |
| • Bank lending | 18,500 | -500 | -2.6% |
| • Non-bank lending | 14,100 | -10,400 | -42.4% |
| • Lending support | 5,000 | -8,700 | -63.5% |
| Other finance | 10,800 | -1,700 | -13.6% |
| Real estate/leasing | 38,400 | -1,200 | -3.0% |
| • Real estate | 31,900 | -1,000 | -3.0% |
| • Leasing | 6,500 | -2,000 | -23.5% |
| Bldg. services | 32,600 | -800 | -2.4% |
| Building supply | 11,400 | -1,300 | -10.2% |
| Farm | 5,100 | -5,300 | -51.0% |
| All real-estate related | 234,600 | -26,400 | -10.1% |
| All other O.C. jobs | 1,262,700 | -25,700 | -2.0% |
| All O.C. jobs | 1,497,300 | -46,500 | -3.0% |
Fed czar Ben Bernanke told Congress this week: “Consumer spending continued to increase at a solid pace through much of the second half of 2007, despite the problems in the housing market, but it appears to have slowed significantly toward the end of the year. The jump in the price of imported energy, which eroded real incomes and wages, likely contributed to the slowdown in spending, as did the declines in household wealth associated with the weakness in house prices and equity prices.” (Read more of Ben’s testimony 
Foreclosure sale’s set for March 19 for the 2,500-acre, Neverland spread near Santa Barbara owned by pop star Michael Jackson. Reportedly he’s late on a $24 million loan from Fortress Music. Your blogger offers up some highlights to date of what could prove to be the most-covered foreclosure in American history ….
