LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County's unemployment rate edged down a little in December, coming in just below its November rate, according to the latest report on unemployment from the state.
The California Employment Development Department's report on December unemployment showed that Lake County's rate last month was 12.1 percent, down from the revised November 2013 rate of 12.2 percent and well below the December 2012 rate of 15 percent.
California's overall unemployment rate for December was 8.3 percent, down from 8.5 percent in November and 9.8 percent in December 2012, the report showed.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics said the nationwide unemployment rate for December was 6.7 percent, down from 7 percent in November and 7.9 percent in December 2012.
The number of people unemployed in California was 1,532,000 – down by 48,000 over the month, and down by 281,000 compared with December of last year, the Employment Development Department reported.
The state's nonfarm payroll jobs totaled 14,767,800 in December, an increase of 13,600 jobs. The report said nonfarm employment was up by 1.6 percent – or 235,700 jobs – in a year-over-year comparison.
California has gained 922,500 jobs since the economic recovery began in February 2010, according to the report, which is based on data from two separate surveys, one of households, one of businesses.
Lake County's 12.1-percent December rate earned it a ranking of No. 47 among the state's 58 counties, an improvement from the No. 50 rank it received in November.
During December, Marin County had the state's lowest unemployment rate, 4.1 percent, and Imperial had the highest, 22.5 percent, the report showed.
The state report said that Lake County only had minor job growth in categories such as professional and business services, 1.7 percent; retail trade, 1 percent; local government, 0.5 percent; educational and health services and trade, transportation and utilities, 0.4 percent.
Lake's neighboring counties ranked as follows in December, according to the Employment Development Department: Colusa, No. 57, 20.5 percent; Glenn, No. 45, 11.3 percent; Mendocino, No. 20, 7.4 percent; Napa, No. 8, 6.7 percent; Sonoma, No. 6, 5.7 percent; and Yolo, No. 33, 9.5 percent.
The Employment Development Department said that during the December survey week there were 504,558 people receiving regular Unemployment Insurance, compared to 465,581 in November and 496,500 in December 2012.
New claims for unemployment insurance totaled 73,458 in December, compared with 72,642 in
November and 51,545 in December of the previous year, the state said.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.