Employment Increase at Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports

Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach bring in new jobs in a post-recession surge of employment since last year.

Employment increases began gathering momentum in the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports, with as much as a threefold increase in the number of longshoremen landing jobs on the docks compared with the same period last year. From an average of 5,200 dockworkers a day between February 2006 and 2007, the average dropped to as low as 1,000 jobs a day during the depths of the recession last year.

According to summaries, through the first weeks of February this year, there was an average of 2,679 longshore jobs a day during three work shifts at both ports. That related to an increase of over 34 percent from February 2009 of available jobs on average.

The surge of employment indicated retailers were ordering goods and restocking inventories. Over 115,000 Southern Californians work in jobs related to goods movement and an additional 185,000 work in warehousing and wholesale distribution of imports and exports. Among them, longshoremen jobs are of the highest paying.

Some dock workers and officials remained hesitant, the sudden spike in job availability does not guarantee what the future holds. However, others feel the international trade will advance recovery because of the vital role it plays in both ports' economy.