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Orange RPU 2023 Biennial Modification to PY 2021-24 Regional Plan <br /> <br />8 <br /> <br />advanced manufacturing. It is also known for its growing ecosystem of entrepreneurship <br />and innovation. Many Southern California startups concentrate on virtual and augmented <br />reality, cybersecurity, biomedical science, bioengineering, medical imaging, medical <br />device, and environmental health technologies. Over the next several years, Orange <br />County is poised to be at the center of emergent industries based on educational and <br />intellectual assets in the region. The county’s most robust traded clusters with a high <br />employment specialization in the area are medical device manufacturing (US Ranking 1), <br />lighting and electrical equipment manufacturing (US Ranking 2), apparel manufacturing <br />(US Ranking 3), information technology and analytical instruments manufacturing (US <br />Ranking 5), and financial services (US Ranking 6).12 <br /> <br />A. Analysis of Employment and Unemployment Data <br /> <br />Unemployment as of December 2022 is at 2.5%, which is lower than the pre-pandemic <br />levels. Orange County had a positive economic outlook before the impacts of the COVID- <br />19 pandemic. In January 2020, Orange County had an unemployment rate of 2.9%, the <br />lowest in Southern California. In the preceding 12 months, the county’s unemployment <br />rate had not exceeded 3.1%. Before California’s first statewide stay-at-home order was <br />issued in March 2020, closing all nonessential businesses and restaurant dining, the <br />unemployment rate stood at 2.8% in February of that year. The economic disruption from <br />COVID-19 resulted in steep job losses, with the unemployment rate quadrupling at its <br />peak of 15.5% in May 2020, the highest unemployment rate ever recorded for Orange <br />County. The rates slowly declined to 7.7% in November 2020 and remained at 7.7% in <br />December 2020 when regional stay-at-home orders went back into effect. This rate <br />compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 8.8 percent for California and 6.4 <br />percent for the nation during the same period.13 <br /> <br /> <br />12 “U.S. Cluster Mapping: Mapping a Nation of Regional Clusters.” U.S. Cluster Mapping | Mapping a Nation of Regional Clusters, <br />www.clustermapping.us/. <br />13 Labor Market Information, EDD, 2021, www.labormarketinfo.edd.ca.gov/data/lmi-by-subjects.html. <br />EXHIBIT 1