State Unemployment Rate Remains Steady
SACRAMENTO -California’s unemployment rate remains unchanged at 12.4 percent in December compared to the previous month.
Last month, the state reported the November unemployment rate at 12.3 percent, but the state Department of Economic Development revised that figure to 12.4 percent on Friday.
For the month, California employers shed 38,800 jobs.
December caps off a dismal year where the state lost more than a half-million jobs. While most industries cut employment, there was one bright spot: Education and health care posted a 1.3 percent increase for the year.
According to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, California has the fifth-highest unemployment rate in the nation.
Michigan tops the nation with 14.6 percent, followed by Nevada, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
Seasonal hiring contributed to more than a half-percent drop in the unemployment rate in Riverside County last month, state officials reported today.
The county’s non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate in December, based on preliminary estimates, was 14.3 percent, down from 15 percent in November, according to the California Employment Development Department.
Despite the decline, unemployment countywide remained well above the year-ago level of 10.6 percent, with some 130,000 county residents out of work, figures showed.
The unemployment rate in Riverside and San Bernardino counties combined fell to 14 percent, from 14.7 percent in November, according to the EDD. Bi-county data showed payrolls expanding in retail trade, leisure and hospitality and financial services in December. Clothing and general merchandise outlets posted the biggest gains, as businesses increased staff for the holiday shopping season.
Last month’s gains were offset by substantial losses in the construction and manufacturing sectors, as well as professional and business services, which altogether shed 3,300 jobs, according to the EDD.
The Inland Empire’s construction industry hasn’t shown a gain in seven months.
The total size of the civilian labor force in Riverside and San Bernardino counties in December was 1,778,800, with 248,400 unemployed.
