O.C. loses 15,000 self-employed since ‘06

September 29th, 2009, 6:00 am · 12 Comments · posted by Jan Norman, small-business columnist

Orange County had 15,000 fewer self-employed workers in 2008 than in 2006, according to the U.S. Census’ American Community Survey just released.

The decline in the self-employed occurred as a percentage of the adult civilian workforce as well as absolute numbers, the Census said. In 2006, 8.5% of workers were self-employed; in 2007 8.2% and in 2008 7.3%

The decline doesn’t surprise economist Esmael Adibi, director of the Center for Economic Research at Chapman University in Orange.

“The big employment boost we got from 2003 to 2006 was mostly in construction and a large number of those people were self-employed: the remodelers, landscapers, the guys who mow the lawns. And many real estate agents are self-employed,” he said.

Leila Mozaffari, director at the Orange County Small Business Development Center, was initially surprised to learn about the new data, but speculated that in some cases, people who were laid off from jobs are doing work as self-employed laborers but not telling Census workers or other government agencies because they don’t want to jeopardize their unemployment checks.

The Employment Development Department’s data on number of self-employed in Orange County is higher than layoffs by companies, Adibi adds. “So a good chunk are self-employed. And what’s doubly hard about that is that they lose their jobs plus they can’t get unemployment (pay).”

However, as the economy pulls out of a recession, job creation always lags. So Adibi said that self-employment during that period will likely skyrocket.

“Workers realize there is no way to go back to what they used to do,” Adibi explained, ” so they find something else to do, especially if there is no potential to get a paying job.”

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Les Quiver says:

September 29, 2009 at 6:38 am

I have a great idea for a new position with the County. There are an untold amount of unlicensed contractors and handymen working under the radar in the OC. They are mostly hispanic, they have no insurance and most have no intention of doing any work up to code. I think it’s a good idea to get some code police out on the road. You could station them at home depo and follow them to their jobs and bust them and the property owner for hiring them. Hey I’ll do the job for 55k per year..

ocobserver says:

September 29, 2009 at 8:56 am

Independent contractors are widespead throughout the economy. Not just in construction. Throughout most industries. They are not entitled to unemployment compensation so how are they even counted as casualties of this economy? ? I suspect most of them aren’t. I believe the problem is much worse that the numbers tells us. I would not be a bit surprised of the REAL unemployment rate in OC borders on 20%.

PC says:

September 29, 2009 at 9:23 am

I worked as an independent landscape contractor until 2006 when I saw the mortgage/housing crash coming. Since 90% of my customers funded their projects with HELOC money, I knew that my business was going to be in trouble. Fortunately I made an exit in time to secure a job with a construction material supplier but even that job has gone away. Thank goodness for the $950 EDD check I get every two weeks!

I have been asked if I will ever go back to being an independent contractor. NO WAY! At least not in CA. Finding legal labor is impossible and the taxes and other red tape that a business owner in CA has to deal with in order to operate legally is a real pain in the you know what.

To the contractors still out there: Do your part, use E-verify and do not support illegal labor.

bigtunalover says:

September 29, 2009 at 10:06 am

obama you are going to pay for what you have done to this country. you are a pathological liar. your a one termer buddy. you suck at leading.

realist says:

September 29, 2009 at 10:28 am

Sadly, I agree with Oc Observer- I know a lot of small bus owners and contractors who literally have a laundry list of complaints about doing business with the State and certain cities in OC. Sadly, I just dont see it getting better any time soon.

nopelosi says:

September 29, 2009 at 10:29 am

I know of 3 people who said that taxes and govt. regs made it impossible to turn a profit so they just shut down and looked for a job.

Norm Bour says:

September 29, 2009 at 11:35 am

Sorry, don’t buy it. I see more new entrepreneurs and start ups every week. Maybe not in construction and many labor based jobs that drove much of that increase in the early to mid part of the decade. The new business owners today are more white collar than blue and we will see more of them since they cannot find J-O-B-S.

ocobserver says:

September 29, 2009 at 12:25 pm

Norm. since the average mortgage holder spends 60% of his income on his house payment and consumer spending has plummeted and the credit market has dried up, where exactly are these so-called ‘entrepreneurs’ getting the capital for their ’start-ups’? Just curious.
- What_the... says:
  
  September 29, 2009 at 1:57 pm
  
  My clients are going out of business faster than I can replace them. I picked-up ten new clients at the beginning of the year. Each have now gone out of business. So maybe there is still start-ups BUT they are buring out really fast. I provide payroll/financial services.

xxcontractor says:

September 29, 2009 at 7:02 pm

I am a contractor doing the remodel work and planning to exit this business pretty soon.Doing the construction business in C.A.,if you do it completely legal, you will have to pay taxes,insurance,work comp but the home owners want to go for the cheapest deals !!.How can you compete with those unlicensed contractors? Is there any State agency helping you? Yes, just to get some unlicensed guy show it on the T.V. to show the public that we are doing our jobs.Still,there are sti tons of them that are making the price of construction work to the ground.Yes if you really love the work you can do it but you can only earn enough to put the food on your table

brokecontractor says:

October 1, 2009 at 6:29 am

Seems to me that white people think they deserve to live above their means like kings….if you have $100 in your pocket you have more than 3/4 of the world…learn what matters in life and stop trying to be somebody you’re not.

Nazar says:

October 2, 2009 at 7:35 am

Its no longer about work, Faith puts dinner on my table.

Orange County Register