IE job postings drop below pre-pandemic levels for the first time since 2021

Citrus Belt Review: Job postings in the Riverside–San Bernardino–Ontario metro fell below their pre-pandemic level in late May for the first time since early 2021, according to Indeed Hiring Lab metro data. The seasonally adjusted index stood at 98.75 on June 5, against a baseline of 100 set on February 1, 2020. The metro crossed below that line on May 29 and has stayed under it since.

The slide is steeper here than nationally. IE postings are down 10.0% year over year; the national index is down 5.2% and still sits just above its pre-pandemic mark. The metro's monthly average has fallen every month since February — from 107.0 to 98.9 in early June — and the index now sits 42% below its November 2021 peak, when warehouse hiring put the IE among the hottest labor markets in the country.

The reading lands ahead of EDD's May metro employment release, due June 19. Postings measure employer demand, not employment — but a regional decline running at twice the national pace is the kind of gap that tends to show up in the payroll data a few months later.