SAN DIEGO–The San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG) Data Science and Analytics team examined and analyzed local and state data that indicates nearly 300,000 regional residents have lost their jobs due to the economic shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SANDAG report, COVID-19 Impact on the San Diego Regional Economy: Employment Analysis, outlines the geographical distribution of lost jobs and calculates unemployment rates for segments of the region.
The communities of South Bay and Central San Diego have been the hardest hit by the mass loss of jobs.
“SANDAG is in a unique position to analyze data it collects to develop reports and economic forecasts that can help inform regional leaders. These reports can be used as tools to help in our recovery planning efforts,” said SANDAG Executive Director Hasan Ikhrata. “I’m very proud of Chief Economist Ray Major and his team for putting in long hours to get this done.”
The new SANDAG report examines unemployment in the region by place of residence and place of work.
“The reality is that hundreds of thousands of San Diegans have lost their primary source of income,” said SANDAG Chief Economist Ray Major. “We hope this report gives regional leaders a broad understanding of the impacts and will help in developing protocols to allow people to safely return to work and restart the region’s economy.
Some employment centers have been hit harder than others, depending on the concentration of businesses in the tourism, retail, food and beverage services, and personal services industries.
In the San Diego region, communities that have struggled most during the pandemic include the South Bay and Central San Diego where unemployment rates are 22-27%.
Data providers for this report include the San Diego Workforce Partnership and Applied Geographic Solutions, Incorporated on April 20. It includes estimates through April 11.
The full SANDAG report, COVID-19 Impact on the San Diego Regional Economy: Employment Analysis, is available online at sandag.org/economy.
