California Apparel News

There were few bright spots in California’s apparel industry in 2008. As the year comes to a close, the best that can be said for the state’s industry-related jobs in the textile, manufacturing and retail sectors is that unemployment figures kept pace with the rest of the country. In November, the country was declared to officially be in a recession, and unemployment figures rose to 6.7 percent—for a total loss of approximately 1.9 million jobs for the year. In October, with the loss of 26,400 jobs, California’s jobless rate jumped to 8.2 percent—the worst in 14 years. Only two states have higher unemployment rates.

“The retail sector has gotten hammered,” said Jack Kyser, the chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. “The apparel industry has gotten hammered—but it has been in keeping with everything that is going on in the nation’s economy.”

According to the most recent data available from the California Employment Development Department (EDD), textile mills in the state shed 900 jobs. Retailers selling clothing, shoes and jewelry shed 3,800 jobs, while apparel manufacturers culled their ranks by 1,400 employees in 2008. In all, the apparel industry shrank by more than 6,000 jobs between October 2007 and October 2008. Since 2006, the state has shed 1,800 textile jobs and 5,100 apparel manufacturing jobs.

Across the state, textile mills took the hardest hit in the apparel industry, losing nearly 8 percent of its workers. In Los Angeles County, textile mills shrank their work forces by 3.2 percent, while mills in Riverside and San Bernardino counties saw a drop of 6.4 percent in employment. Retailers posted a 2 percent loss of jobs across the state as of October, but that figure is expected to rise because of December layoffs from retailers such as Hayward, Calif.–based mall chain Mervyns, which will shutter all 149 of its stores.

“There were various bankruptcies in 2008, and we can expect more in 2009. It is going to be a difficult year,” Kyser said. One bright spot will be that Kohl’s, a mid-tier department-store chain in Menomonee Falls, Wis., and Los Angeles–based Forever 21 Inc. will assume the leases on 46 Mervyns locations, Kyser said, many of which are in the state. “At least some mall owners won’t get stuck with dark storefronts.” —Erin Barajas

(link for California Employment Development Department chart)