County unemployment spikes four percent in June

Riverside County’s unemployment rate climbed above 4 percent last month, state officials reported Wednesday.

The jobless rate in June, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.4 percent, compared with 3.6 percent in May, according to the California Employment Development Department.

However, the rate was three-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.7 percent, figures showed.

Roughly 47,500 residents were out of work in June, and 1,037,800 were employed, according to the EDD.

The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 9.8 percent, followed by Coachella at 8.3 percent and the unincorporated community of Highgrove at 7.5 percent.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in June was 4.3 percent, up from 3.5 percent in May, officials said.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin in the retail trade sector, which added an estimated 2,000 positions last month.

Additional gains were recorded in the public, health services, educational services, agricultural, hospitality, information technology, construction and manufacturing sectors, which altogether expanded by 4,700 jobs, according to the EDD. Miscellaneous unclassified industries also added 500 jobs, according to figures.

Payrolls contracted in the professional and business services sector, which shed 400 positions, data indicated.

The EDD said that the state’s jobless rate in June was 4.2 percent, unchanged from May.