The California Employment Development Department reported Friday that Lake County's May unemployment rate was 17.1 percent, down from 18.6 percent in April. The county's May 2009 unemployment rate was 14.7 percent.
Lake County's May unemployment rate ranked it No. 48 among the county's 58 counties, according to the report. The county's labor force rose from 25,340 people to 25,800 in May, when 4,400 people were out of work, 300 less than the previous month.
Statewide, unemployment totaled 12.4 percent in May, down a notch from 12.5 percent in April but up from 11.3 percent in May 2009, the state reported. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the nation's unemployment was 9.7 percent in May, down from 9.9 percent in April.
The state's lowest unemployment rate in May was found in Marin, where joblessness totaled 7.9 percent, while the highest was 27.5 percent in Imperial County, according to the Employment Development Department.
Lake's neighboring counties posted the following rates and state rankings: Glenn, 15 percent, No. 38; Mendocino, 10.8 percent, No. 13; Napa, 9 percent, No. 4; Sonoma, 10 percent, No. 9; and Yolo, 11.7 percent, No. 23.
Upper Lake was the county area with the lowest unemployment in May – 8.9 percent – while the highest unemployment locally was in Clearlake Oaks, where joblessness totaled 25.2 percent, according to detailed state labor data.
The following unemployment rates were reported for other areas of the county, from highest to lowest: Nice, 24.7 percent; city of Clearlake, 24.3 percent; Lucerne, 17.9 percent; Kelseyville, 17.4 percent; Middletown, 17.2 percent; city of Lakeport, 16.4 percent; Cobb, 15.3 percent; Lower Lake, 14.3 percent; Hidden Valley Lake, 14.1 percent; north Lakeport, 13.6 percent.
California gains jobs in May
The Employment Development Department reported that California has gained jobs in each of the first five months of 2010, with gains over the period totaling 95,900 jobs.
Nonfarm jobs in California totaled 13,905,500 in May, an increase of 28,300 over the month, according to a survey of businesses that is larger and less variable statistically. The survey of 42,000 California
businesses measures jobs in the economy. The year-over-year change (May 2009 to May 2010) shows a decrease of 244,700 jobs (down 1.7 percent).
The federal survey of households, done with a smaller sample than the survey of employers, shows an increase in the number of employed people during the month. That survey estimated the number of Californians holding jobs in May was 16,062,000, an increase of 48,000 from April, but down 182,000 from the employment total in May of last year.
The number of people unemployed in California was 2,277,000 – down by 21,000 over the month, but up by 212,000 compared with May of last year the state reported.
EDD’s report on payroll employment (wage and salary jobs) in the nonfarm industries of California totaled 13,905,500 in May, a net gain of 28,300 jobs since the April survey, according to the report. This followed a gain of 25,400 jobs (as revised) in April.
Six categories – manufacturing; information; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; other services; and government – added jobs over the month, gaining 46,200 jobs, the state reported. Government posted the largest increase over the month, adding 30,000 jobs, all in federal government.
Four categories – construction; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; and educational and health services – reported job declines in May month, down 17,900 jobs. The report showed that trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest decline over the month, down by 9,600 jobs.
One sector, mining and logging, recorded no change over the month, the state reported.
In a year-over-year comparison – May 2009 to May 2010 – nonfarm payroll employment in California decreased by 244,700 jobs, down 1.7 percent, according to the Employment Development Department. Three industry divisions – information; educational and health services; and government – posted job gains over the year, adding 37,000 jobs.
Educational and health services recorded the largest increase over the year on a numerical percentage
basis, up 24,500 jobs, a 1.4 percent increase. The state reported that information posted the largest increase over the year on a percentage basis, up 2.0 percent, a gain of 8,900 jobs.
Eight categories – mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; financial activities; professional and business services; leisure and hospitality; and other services – posted job declines over the year, down 281,700 jobs, the state reported.
The report showed that trade, transportation and utilities employment showed the largest decline over the year on a numerical basis, down by 82,300 jobs, a decline of 3.1 percent. Construction employment showed the largest decline over the year on a percentage basis, down 12.8 percent, down 80,800 jobs.
In May, there were 675,201 people receiving regular unemployment insurance benefits during the May survey week, according to the Employment Development Department. When federal unemployment insurance extensions are included, the total is 1,461,349 people receiving benefits, compared to 729,211 in April and 839,960 last year.
At the same time, the state reported that new claims for unemployment insurance were 70,439 in May, compared with 83,896 in April and 67,579 in May of last year.
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