Riverside County job unemployment rate holds steady at historic low
Riverside County’s unemployment rate held at 3.8 percent last month, the lowest level on record.
The jobless rate in May, based on preliminary estimates, matched the rate in April and was nearly a percentage point lower than the level from a year ago, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.7 percent, according to the California Employment Development Department.
Just over 40,000 residents were out of work last month, about 1,000 less than in April, figures showed.
EDD archives of labor market data show that the county’s jobless rate has never been recorded below 4 percent, and in the county’s 2018-19 budget compendium, published last week, officials acknowledged that the current rate is a historic “all-time low.”
The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 9.8 percent, followed by Coachella at 8 percent and Winchester at 6.6 percent.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in May was 3.7 percent, unchanged from April, officials said.
Bi-county data indicated payrolls contracted in two sectors of the regional economy — health services and professional business services, which together shed 3,000 jobs.
Last month’s biggest gainer was the public sector, where 1,600 positions were added, mostly in education, according to the EDD. Remaining sectors expanded by a total 5,600 jobs, figures showed.
The EDD said that the state’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in May was also 3.7 percent.
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