City of Long Beach
Economic Trends & COVID Impacts
March 8, 2021
Long Beach City Council Economic Development & Finance Committee 1 Seiji Steimetz, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair of Economics
Director, Office of Economic Research
California State University, Long Beach
Industries in Long Beach
2 3
Long Beach Employment
Source: CA Employment Development; Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research 1,119
1,568
1,943
3,386
4,360
5,172
5,591
5,960
7,016
7,166
9,391
11,920
12,104
12,244
15,075
30,693
31,298
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Information
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Construction
Private Educational Services
Wholesale Trade
Finance & Insurance
Administrative & Support & Waste
Personal Care & Other Services
Manufacturing
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
Transportation & Warehousing
Accommodation & Food Services
Retail Trade
Government (incl. Public Education)
Health Care & Social Assistance
2022 Wage & Salary Employment
▪ 167,000 employees in Long Beach
▪ 75% of all employment is in
▪ Health Care & Social Assistance
▪ Government
▪ Retail Trade
▪ Accommodation & Food Service
▪ Transportation & Warehousing
▪ Professional, Scientific, Tech.
▪ Manufacturing
4 Long Beach Gross Regional Product
Source: CA Employment Development; Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research 205
234
380
642
663
675
837
886
945
1,265
1,494
1,768
1,897
2,521
2,556
2,969
5,809
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Utilities
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Private Educational Services
Administrative & Support & Waste
Construction
Accommodation & Food Services
Personal Care & Other Services
Information
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Retail Trade
Wholesale Trade
Transportation and Warehousing
Finance & Insurance
Health Care & Social Assistance
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
Manufacturing
2021 Gross Regional Product ($ millions)
▪ Long Beach’s Gross Regional Product
is $30.2 billion per year
▪ Manufacturing makes the largest
contribution to Long Beach’s GRP
▪ But about $4.2 billion of that is in
Petroleum Refining
▪ Leisure & Hospitality accounts for
▪ 4% of Long Beach GRP
▪ 7% of Long Beach Employment
5 Long Beach Gross Regional Product excluding Oil
Source: CA Employment Development; Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research 205
234
380
642
663
675
837
886
945
1,265
1,494
1,603
1,768
1,897
2,521
2,556
2,969
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Utilities
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Private Educational Services
Administrative & Support & Waste
Construction
Accommodation & Food Services
Personal Care & Other Services
Information
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Retail Trade
Manufacturing (excluding Oil)
Wholesale Trade
Transportation and Warehousing
Finance & Insurance
Health Care & Social Assistance
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
2021 Gross Regional Product ($ millions)
Excluding petroleum refining, Professional,
Scientific, & Technical Services contributes the
most to Long Beach’s Gross Regional Product
▪ Legal Services
▪ Accounting, Tax, Payroll Services
▪ Engineering & Architecture
▪ Computer Systems Design & Programming
▪ Management & Scientific Consulting
▪ Research & Development
▪ Advertising & Public Relations
6 Long Beach Gross Regional Product excluding Oil
Source: CA Employment Development; Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research 205
234
380
642
663
675
837
886
945
1,265
1,494
1,603
1,768
1,897
2,521
2,556
2,969
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Utilities
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Private Educational Services
Administrative & Support & Waste
Construction
Accommodation & Food Services
Personal Care & Other Services
Information
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Retail Trade
Manufacturing (excluding Oil)
Wholesale Trade
Transportation and Warehousing
Finance & Insurance
Health Care & Social Assistance
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
2021 Gross Regional Product ($ millions)
Excluding petroleum refining, Finance &
Insurance contributes the 2nd most to Long
Beach’s Gross Regional Product
▪ Health & Medical Insurance
▪ Insurance Agencies & Brokerages
▪ Banks & Credit Unions
▪ Real Estate Lending
▪ Financial Advising & Management
COVID Impacts on
Employment in Long Beach
7 8
Long Beach Changes in Employment 2019-2022
184,280
168,001 167,067 166,565
0 20,000
40,000
60,000
80,000
100,000
120,000
140,000
160,000
180,000
200,000
2019 2020 2021 2022
Wage & Salary Employment
Source: Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research
Since 2019, employment in Long Beach
has declined by 18,000 jobs
▪ 10% employment decline
9 Long Beach Changes in Employment 2019-2022
Source: Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research
-7,049
-2,262
-1,376
-1,223
-1,222
-1,040
-1,011
-708
-577
-415
-386
-339
-289
-170
-78
-40
490
Accommodation & Food Services
Personal Care & Other Services
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Retail Trade
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
Government (incl. Public Education)
Manufacturing
Wholesale Trade
Administrative & Support & Waste
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Private Educational Services
Finance and Insurance
Information
Transportation and Warehousing
Construction
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Health Care & Social Assistance
Changes in Employment 2019-2022
▪ Service Industries and those relying
on face-to-face interaction have
suffered the largest job losses
▪ Leisure & Hospitality employment
has declined by 8,500 jobs
▪ Personal Care & Other Services
includes
▪ Hair & Nail Salons
▪ Dry-cleaning, Laundry, & Linen
▪ Auto Repair & Maintenance
▪ Parking garages
▪ Religious & Non-profit organizations
10 Long Beach Changes in Employment 2019-2022
Source: Emsi; CSULB Office of Economic Research
-47%
-37%
-24%
-13%
-11%
-11%
-10%
-9%
-8%
-8%
-7%
-5%
-3%
-3%
-2%
-1%
2%
Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation
Accommodation & Food Services
Personal Care & Other Services
Information
Wholesale Trade
Real Estate & Rental & Leasing
Manufacturing
Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services
Administrative & Support & Waste
Retail Trade
Private Educational Services
Finance and Insurance
Management of Companies & Enterprises
Government (incl. Public Education)
Construction
Transportation and Warehousing
Health Care & Social Assistance
Changes in Employment 2019-2022
▪ Leisure & Hospitality employment
has declined by 39%
COVID Impacts on
Long Beach Residents
11 12
Long Beach Unemployment Rate
Source: CA Employment Development; US Bureau of Labor Statistics ▪ 235,000 Long Beach residents
participate in the labor force
▪ Compared to 243,000 in
January 2020
▪ 15,000 Long Beach working
residents are unemployed
▪ Compared to 12,000
unemployed in January 2020
5.0%
19.0%
6.7%
4.9%
18.8%
6.2%
0%
2%
4%
6%
8%
10%
12%
14%
16%
18%
20%
Jan-20
Feb-20
Mar-20
Apr-20
May-20
Jun-20
Jul-20
Aug-20
Sep-20
Oct-20
Nov-20
Dec-20
Jan-21
Feb-21
Mar-21
Apr-21
May-21
Jun-21
Jul-21
Aug-21
Sep-21
Oct-21
Nov-21
Dec-21
Unemployment Rate (Jan 2020 – Dec 2021)
Long Beach Los Angeles County
13 Long Beach New Unemployment Claims
Source: CA Employment Development; CSULB Office of Economic Research ▪ Initial unemployment insurance
claims have fallen to about
twice their pre-pandemic levels
1,709
30,992
3,595
0 10,000
20,000
30,000
Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims (Jan 2020 – Nov 2021) 14 Long Beach Rental Home Prices
Source: Zillow Research; PolicyMap; US Census ACS 2015-2019 Zip
Code
Median
Household
Income
2019
Avg. Rent
2021
Avg. Rent
2 Year
% Change
5 Year
% Change
90802 $54,616 $1,856 $2,001 8% 30%
90803 $90,278 $1,977 $2,143 8% 21%
90804 $52,948 $1,670 $1,834 10% 35%
90805 $50,914 $1,564 $1,676 7% 32%
90806 $54,437 $1,510 $1,657 10% 46%
90807 $73,319 $1,659 $1,788 8% 24%
90808 $110,625 $2,806 $3,092 10% 26%
90813 $38,449 $1,407 $1,531 9% 40%
90814 $73,391 $1,783 $1,956 10% 34%
90815 $94,559 $2,085 $2,291 10% 22%
15 LA/OC Metropolitan Area Inflation
Source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Since January 2020, prices
have increased by:
▪ 8.4% for All Items
▪ 11.1% for Food
▪ 30% for Energy
240
250
260
270
280
290
300
310
320
330
340
350
360
370
Consumer Price Index (Base = 1982-84)
All Items Food Energy
City of Long Beach
Economic Trends & COVID Impacts
March 8, 2021
Long Beach City Council Economic Development & Finance Committee 16 Seiji Steimetz, Ph.D.
Professor & Chair of Economics
Director, Office of Economic Research
California State University, Long Beach