Employment In Arts, Entertainment And Recreation Plummeted By 39 Percent In Los Angeles In April, Says Report From City Controller

City Controller Ron Galperin released updated figures on Monday showing Los Angeles has regained 16,000 jobs but is still down a total of 252,000 jobs since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The data also indicated that the entertainment industry has been hit much worse than other sectors in the region.

Originally released last month, Galperin’s “COVID-19 Job Losses in L.A.” map illustrates where Los Angeles lost approximately 268,000 jobs in March and April due to the coronavirus shutdown.

“Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation” freefell in April, with employment plummeting 39 percent from March. Most categories were down mid-teens, in terms of percentage. For example, retail was only down 18 percent. The only sector that fell more than Arts, Entertainment and Education was Accommodation and Food Service, which dropped 44 percent.

And the Entertainment sector’s losses came after employment fell 6 percent the month before. The total number of jobs estimated to have been lost in the sector between February and May is 19,294.

Neighborhoods where the most residents lost jobs since February are Toluca Lake, down 20.4 percent; Hollywood Hills, down 20.1%; and Hollywood, down 19.9%.

The Monday update showed slight gains in May after major sectors of the economy began to reopen. The data in the map is based on the state’s most recent employment numbers.

“Although unemployment in Los Angeles is still over 20%, we’ve started to regain jobs in certain industries,” Galperin said. “This is a positive sign for thousands of families, but it remains to be seen whether the trend will continue. There are still many neighborhoods in Los Angeles, especially those with higher concentrations of African American and Latino families, immigrants, low-income renters and single-parent households, that will need additional resources to recover from COVID-19.”

Los Angeles neighborhoods have an estimated 15% to 20.4% fewer jobs now than they did before COVID-19, with a citywide average of 17% fewer jobs, according to Galperin.

Council District 4, which includes the Hollywood Hills and a portion of the southwest San Fernando Valley, experienced the steepest job decline since February with an estimated 26,000 fewer jobs, or 18.9%.

The map can be viewed at lacontroller.org/joblosses or lacontroller.org/data-stories-and-maps/job-losses/. Users can explore the data by neighborhood or council district.

City News Service contributed to this report.