LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s unemployment rate ticked up again in July, as did the rest of California’s, according to the latest report on joblessness statewide.
The California Employment Development Department reported that Lake County’s July unemployment rate was 6 percent, up from a revised 5.7 percent in June 2017, and below the year-ago estimate of 6.4 percent.
California’s overall unemployment rate in July was 4.8 percent, up from 4.7 percent in June. In July 2016, the unemployment rate was 5.4 percent.
The report said California’s employers added 82,600 nonfarm payroll jobs in July; California has
now gained a total of 2,597,500 jobs since the economic expansion began in February 2010.
The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,100 California households.
Nationwide, the U.S. unemployment rate decreased 0.1 percentage point in July to 4.3 percent, with employers nationwide adding 209,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. The nationwide unemployment rate was 4.9 percent in July 2016.
The report said nonfarm payroll jobs in California totaled 16,784,100 in July, a net gain of 82,600 jobs from June, according to a survey of 71,000 California businesses that measures jobs in the economy. The year-over change, July 2016 to July 2017, shows an increase of 276,300 jobs, up 1.7 percent.
The federal household survey, done with a smaller sample than the survey of employers, shows a decrease in the number of employed Californians over the month but an increase over the year.
The survey estimated that the number of Californians holding jobs in July was 18,212,000, a decrease of 25,000 from June, but up 140,000 from the employment total in July of last year.
The number of unemployed Californians was 925,000 in July – up by 24,000 over the month,
but down by 114,000 compared with July of last year.
In Lake County, the “total farm” employment category rose by 12.6 percent in July, while the total “nonfarm” category dropped by 1.6 percent.
Within the nonfarm category, subcategories showing the largest gains were 6.3 percent, federal government, financial activities, 2.7 percent; and mining, and logging and construction, 1.5 percent. Largest losses were in wholesale trade, 8.3 percent; leisure and hospitality, 4.3 percent; government, 3.5 percent; and goods producing, 1.7 percent.
The Employment Development Department said jobless rates for the various communities within Lake County in July are as follows, from lowest to highest: Cobb, 1.2 percent; Nice, 3.1 percent; north Lakeport, 3.2 percent; Hidden Valley Lake and Middletown, tied, 3.3 percent; Lakeport, 4.1 percent; Kelseyville, 4.2 percent; Upper Lake, 5.9 percent; Lucerne, 7.5 percent; city of Clearlake, 9 percent; Clearlake Oaks, 9.2 percent; and Lower Lake, 12.6 percent.
Lake County’s jobless rate in July earned it a ranking of No. 34 out of the state’s 58 counties.
Neighboring county jobless rates and rankings in July were Colusa, 11.6 percent, No. 57; Glenn, 8 percent, No. 46; Mendocino, 4.8 percent, No. 15; Napa, 3.9 percent, No. 5; Sonoma, 3.9 percent, No. 5; and Yolo, 5.3 percent, No. 23.
The lowest unemployment statewide, 3.2 percent, was in San Mateo County, while Imperial had the highest, 24.2 percent.
The Employment Development Department also reported that there were 343,729 people receiving regular Unemployment Insurance benefits during the July survey week, compared with
330,417 in June and 353,609 in July of last year.
At the same time, new claims for Unemployment Insurance were 45,264 in July, compared with 46,876 in June and 42,923 in July of last year, the agency 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.
Report: Unemployment edges up in Lake County, across rest of state
- Elizabeth Larson
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