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REGIONAL PLAN CONTENT <br />2A. ANALYTICAL OVERVIEW OF THE REGION <br />The Orange Regional Planning Unit (RPU) is comprised of three local Workforce Development <br />Boards (WDBs) serving 34 cities and several large unincorporated areas in Orange County (OC). <br />The RPU includes the Anaheim Workforce Development Board, which serves the City of Anaheim, <br />the Santa Ana Workforce Development Board, which serves the City of Santa Ana, and the Orange <br />County Workforce Development Board, which serves the remaining 32 cities and unincorporated <br />areas of Orange County. Orange County is the third-most populous county in California <br />(3,193,929 people)1 and the sixth-most populous in the nation. The region’s population has <br />increased by 1.4% since 2015, growing by 44,649 people. <br />Orange County had experienced several years of job growth and economic vitality, resulting in <br />record-low unemployment rates before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has since <br />derailed this long streak of growth and the long-term social <br />and economic impacts remain to be seen. Orange County’s <br />Gross Domestic Product (GDP) increased annually since <br />2009 to 269.2 billion in 2019.2 Orange County’s economy <br />ranked 3rd in California and 8th nationally in 2018 based on <br />its GDP. Orange County has employed 1,598,700 in <br />nonfarm jobs as of December 2020. The median household <br />income was $85,400 in 2018, $25,100 above the national <br />average.3 <br />Orange County is experiencing demographic shifts that have economic and workforce <br />implications. Over the next several decades, Orange County’s senior population will increase <br />significantly while working-age populations <br />fall. According to the California Department <br />of Finance (DOF), estimates show seniors 65- <br />74 will increase by 17.75%, 74-84 group by <br />65.7%, and 85 or older will increase by <br />268.7%. The population change will likely <br />require increased employment in health care <br />and other senior service occupations. <br />Simultaneously, the shrinking working-age <br />population could impact economic <br />prosperity and cause more challenges for <br />employers filling open positions. <br />1 EMSI Labor Market Analytics, 2021, www.economicmodeling.com. <br />2 “GDP: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA).” GDP | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), www.bea.gov/data/gdp. <br />3 EMSI Labor Market Analytics, 2021, www.economicmodeling.com. <br />Year GDP <br />2015 $ 225,178,787.00 <br />2016 $ 234,053,392.00 <br />2017 $ 247,314,645.00 <br />2018 $ 256,981,877.00 <br />2019 $ 269,229,776.00 <br />0 50 100 150 200 250 300 <br />0-4 <br />5-19 <br />20-64 <br />65-74 <br />74-84 <br />85+ <br />Orange County Projected Population Change <br />between 2020-20604 <br />Source: California Department of Finance, Demographic <br />EXHIBIT 1