When Colleen Cole applied to the University of San Francisco, her plan was to graduate in four years and become a nurse. In May, Cole, a 2008 graduate of El Toro High School in Lake Forest, landed her dream job at Children's Hospital of Orange County on her first interview.
Stories like hers, economists say, are solid examples of a resurging job market and an indication that Orange County, one of the hardest-hit areas in the nation during the 2007 downturn, is heading to a recovery. While other areas were beginning to recover in 2010 and 2011, Orange County continued to remain painfully sluggish, Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi said.
