Countywide unemployment rate drops in February

Payroll gains in multiple sectors of the regional economy helped push the unemployment rate lower last month in Riverside County, state officials reported today.

The jobless rate in February, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.5 percent, compared with 4.8 percent in January, according to the California Employment Development Department.

The rate was one-tenth of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.6 percent, figures showed.

Roughly 49,400 residents were out of work in February, and 1,053,700 were employed, according to the EDD.

The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 10 percent, followed by Coachella at 9 percent and the unincorporated community of Highgrove at 7.7 percent.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in February was 4.3 percent, down from 4.6 in January, officials said.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin in the professional services sector, which added an estimated 1,800 positions.

Additional gains were recorded in the leisure and hospitality industry, as well as the public, health services and financial services sectors, which altogether increased payrolls by 2,400, according to the EDD.

The retail trade sector continued to unwind from the holiday shopping season, shedding 4,200 jobs, figures showed.

Payrolls also contracted in the agricultural sector, construction, manufacturing and miscellaneous unclassified industries, which lost an aggregate 2,700 positions, data indicated.

The EDD said that the state’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in February was 4.4 percent.