Local Jobless Rate Falls to Near-Record Low of 4.5%

The Ventura County economy continued to roll along last month, charting a near-record low 4.5% unemployment rate and racking up solid home sales.

Countywide, median home prices rose 11.6% from the same period last year--from $216,000 to $241,000, according to a report released Friday.

The number of houses sold dropped by 3.7%--from 1,312 sold in October 1998 to 1,263 this year--but analysts said that small difference is statistically insignificant.

The report included new and resale homes as well as condominiums. The median is the price at which half the homes sold for less and half sold for more.

“These are very strong numbers,� said John Karevoll, an analyst at Acxiom/DataQuick, which released the report. “We’ve never seen numbers as stable and consistent as they are right now. They’re going to stay in place for at least the next half year.�

Midtown Ventura showed some of the biggest price gains in October, with a 42% increase, from $161,000 to $229,000. This was accompanied by a 65% rise in the number of houses sold, from 60 to 99.

In most of the county’s cities, housing sales prices rose well over 10%. Overall, prices appreciated across-the-board.

“Lower-end homes are appreciating in value just the same as the high end,� Karevoll said. “When there’s a shift in purchase patterns, things could be starting to turn a corner, but that’s not happening.�

Some of the largest dips in home sales occurred in Ojai, but prices there still rose steadily.

The decline in sales “doesn’t mean this is a slow market,� said Kathy Mehringer, vice president at Fred Sands Brown Realty in Westlake Village. “It just means 1998 was a banner year. I just think the heated market has tapered off a bit. Sales are still brisk.�

Just as the housing market continues to show strength, the Ventura County economy is continuing to thrive, adding about 2,000 jobs in the past month, and about 5,000 more jobs compared with October 1998.

According to the state’s Employment Development Department, the local unemployment rate fell 0.7%, from 5.2% in September, and 5.8% the previous year.

October’s gains bring the total number of jobs in Ventura County to an estimated 279,400, up 3.1% from the same period a year earlier. About 382,000 Ventura County residents are employed locally or elsewhere, up from 368,800 the year before, according to the state’s figures.

Year-to-year job growth has been in the 4% range for several months.

Mark Schniepp, director of the UC Santa Barbara Economic Forecast Project, said that is a healthy growth rate. “The growth has been coming down a little bit, but 3.1% isn’t much evidence of slowing. We’re on a pace to create more jobs in the county than any year� in history.

The farm labor job rate, notoriously fluid because of the seasonal nature of the work, increased 30%, to 9,800 jobs.

The construction industry job rate increased 15.7%, or 15,500 jobs, compared with the same month last year. The business services industry is up 11% since last year, to about 25,400 jobs.

An employment rate that is too low could mean trouble for employers, but wage rates have remained stable, a sign that inflation is in check.

“It’s a very tight labor market,� department labor market analyst Dee Johnson said. “Employers are reporting that it’s difficult to get labor. We’re simply absorbing nearly all the people who are seeking jobs.�