For August, Lake County registered a 15.1-percent unemployment rate, according to the state Employment Development Department's latest report, issued Friday.
That rate is down from 15.4 percent in July and 15.7 percent in June, as Lake County News has reported. The August 2008 unemployment rate for Lake County was 10.1 percent.
While Lake County registered small improvements last month, the state's unemployment rate rose from 11.9 percent in July to 12.2 percent in August, the state reported. California's August 2008 unemployment rate was 7.6 percent.
The estimated 26,090-person Lake County labor force included 3,950 people out of work in August, the report showed.
Lake's neighboring counties posted the following unemployment rates for August: Colusa, 15.7 percent; Glenn, 15.6 percent; Mendocino, 10.4 percent; Napa, 9.1 percent; Sonoma, 10.2 percent; and Yolo, 11 percent.
Nationally, unemployment for August rose to 9.7 percent, up from 9.4 percent in July, and 6.2 percent in August 2008, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The Employment Development Department reported that California lost 12,300 nonfarm jobs in August. In all, California's nonfarm jobs totaled 14,234,100 in August, a decrease of 5 percent or 741,500 jobs from August 2008.
A federal household survey estimated that the number of Californians holding jobs in August was 16,143,000, a decrease of 116,000 from July, and down 895,000 from the employment total in August of last year, the state reported.
The number of people unemployed in California was 2,248,000 – up by 49,000 over the month, and up by 851,000 compared with August of last year, according to the Employment Development Department.
Approximately 790,099 people were reported to be receiving regular unemployment insurance benefits during the August survey week, compared with 812,165 in July and 504,667 in August of 2008, the report noted.
At the same time, new claims for unemployment insurance were 69,488 in August, compared with 80,048 in July and 51,731 in August of last year, the state reported.
Employment categories adding jobs in August included information, educational and health services, and government, which saw a gain of 11,400 jobs, according to the Employment Development Department.
Posting the largest increase in those categories was the 6,000 jobs added by educational and health services, which also was the only category posting job gains over the past year, for a total of 14,200 jobs, an .08-percent increase, the report explained.
The state reported that eight categories reported job declines in August totaling 23,700 jobs. They included natural resources and mining; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services. Trade, transportation and utilities had the month's biggest decline, showing 7,100 lost jobs.
Ten categories posted job declines over the year, down 755,700 jobs, the Employment Development Department said. They are natural resources and mining; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; information; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government.
The state's report showed that trade, transportation and utilities employment showed the largest decline on a numerical basis, down by 190,700 jobs or 6.7 percent, while construction posted the largest decline on a percentage basis, down by 18.5 percent, totaling 142,000 jobs.
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