COVID-19 Neighborhood Profile: Food Services Jobs in Pico-Union
These neighborhood profiles highlight the intersections of COVID-19 and other social and economic indicators in specific neighborhoods throughout Los Angeles County. They are a feature of the NDSC COVID-19 Dashboard.
According to a recent Pew Research report, workers in
industries including restaurants and bars, hotels, and retail trade services
are at a higher risk of virus-related layoffs due to countywide closures of
many businesses. This is exasperated by the fact that Los Angeles is home to
26% of the state’s accommodation and food service jobs and 8.3% of all hospitality
jobs.
Young workers make up 24% of employment in these industries nationwide and will
therefore be disproportionately affected by COVID-19 layoffs. A recent spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths
in LA County has halted reopening plans and have put an additional economic
strain on already struggling businesses.
Pico-Union is a neighborhood in the City of Los Angeles. As of July 27th, Pico-Union ranked
in the top 10 neighborhoods for total deaths due to COVID-19, with a death rate of 185 per
100,000 persons. Additionally, while
only 6% of LA County’s workforce is employed in the accommodation and food services
industry, 17% of Pico-Union’s employed population works in this industry. Further,
over 10% of Pico Union’s population are between the ages of 18 and 24. Prior to
the onset of the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis, Pico-Union had a
higher rate of unemployment (8.5%) compared to the rest of the county (6.8%). Given
the uncertainty surrounding the reopening of the county, it is likely that residents
of Pico-Union will suffer a disproportionate economic impact due to the
prevalence of accommodation and food service jobs in the neighborhood.
Hover over the circles on the chart below to see the percent of workers employed in the accommodation & food services industry, the percent of the population that is ages 18 to 24, and the unemployment rate in a specific neighborhood.
