DOWNIEVILLE — We are now “celebrating” the fourth anniversary of the COVID outbreak, a time associated with a drastic reduction in the nation’s labor force and the number of people employed. Significant increases in unemployment and the percentage of the labor force without work were also recorded in 2020.

As the table below shows, none of our local labor markets were exceptions to these economic experiences. Between December 2019 and December 2020, the counties of Sierra, Plumas, and Nevada all saw consequential drops in the number of people working or even looking for work. These areas noted significantly higher unemployment rates, as well, even though labor force participation fell.

So, how do the numbers developed by the Employment Development Department’s Labor Market Information division for 2020-2023 show these labor markets have faired over the ensuing years?

In Sierra County, the size of the labor force and the number of people employed remain below the levels seen in the year before COVID. But, the number of folks unemployed in December 2024 is identical to what was found in 2019. Unfortunately, the unemployment rate, after falling in 2021 and 2022, rose in 2023 to 4.9%, slightly exceeding December 2019’s figure.

The picture in Plumas County closely tracks Sierra County’s experience; neither the size of the labor force nor the number of people working has returned to the figures seen before the epidemic. Moreover, the most recent unemployment rate (8.5%) is worse than it was prior to COVID (8.1%).

As for Nevada County, the largest and most robust labor market in the northern section of the Sierra Nevada’s western slope, the number of people now working or looking for work is almost equal to what it was before 2020. However, between 2022 and 2023, both of these positive measures shrank, and the number of unemployed jumped sharply, up by 34 percent. The county’s unemployment rate is now a percentage point higher than it was at the same time last year.

The same trends are evident when aggregating the statistics for these counties. At the end of 2023 the labor force remains smaller, fewer people are working, more people are unemployed, and the proportion of the labor force seeking jobs is higher than was the case at the end of 2019.