LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Unemployment numbers remained steady in Lake County last month, while declines were reported on the state and federal levels.
The California Employment Development Department’s latest report on joblessness showed that Lake County’s unemployment rate was unchanged in October, remaining at 6.2%. The October 2020 rate was 8.3%.
Lake County’s September and October 6.2% unemployment rate is the lowest for the county since the pandemic began in the spring of 2020.
California’s rate in October was 7.3%, down from 7.5% in September and 9.8% in October 2020. The state’s payroll jobs totaled 15,963,400 in October 2020, 16,677,800 in September 2021 and 16,774,600 in October 2021.
The state’s employers added 96,800 nonfarm payroll jobs to the economy last month, and thanks to October’s job growth, the state has now regained 1,828,500, or 67.4 percent, of the 2,714,800 jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the report said.
California’s one-month job growth also accounted for about 18.2% of the nation’s 531,000 overall jobs gain in October.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said the jobless rate nationwide was 4.6% in October, compared to 4.8% in September and 6.9 percent in the previous October.
A state dashboard showed that Lake County had 718 Unemployment Insurance claims in October and 50 claims for Pandemic Unemployment Assistance, compared to 1,527 and 230 claims, respectively, in those categories the previous October.
In Lake County, the total farm employment category was down 28.2% over September, with information posting an 11.1% decline followed by a 7.1% in trade, transportation and utilities. Categories showing growth included nondurable goods, 3.7%, and government, 1%.
Lake County’s October unemployment rate ranked it No. 41 out of California’s 58 counties.
Neighboring county jobless rates and ranks were: Colusa, 8.3%, No. 55; Glenn, 5.4%, No. 27; Mendocino, 5%, No. 21; Napa, 4.5%, No. 10; Sonoma, 4.3%, No. 7; and Yolo, 4.6%, No. 13.
The lowest unemployment rate in California in October was 3.4% in Marin, while Imperial County came in with the highest, 17.7%.
Regarding the statewide picture, the number of Californians employed in October was 17,639,100, an increase of 32,700 persons from September’s total of 17,606,400, and up 588,800 from the employment total in October of last year, the report said.
The number of unemployed Californians was 1,383,200 in October, a decrease of 41,200 over the month and down 471,200 in comparison to October of last year.
The number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased by 3,100 from September 2021 to 416,500 jobs in October, a decrease that is seen seasonally. The report said the agricultural industry had 7,400 more farm jobs in October 2021 than it did the October prior.
The Employment Development Department said 10 of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs in October. Only the government category showed declines, with a loss of 4,000 jobs attributed to reductions in city and county government.
Professional and business services led with 39,500 new jobs thanks to large gains in employment services; followed by leisure and hospitality, 21,500; Trade, transportation and utilities, 14,900, which the report attributed to good growth in food services and drinking places, and strong hiring in the retail trade sector; construction, 7,500; education and health services, 5,400; financial activities, 4,400; manufacturing, 2,800; information, 2,700; other services, 1,800; and mining and logging, 300.
Also in October, there were 463,257 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the monthly sample week, compared to 493,987 people in September and 1,650,946 people in October 2020.
Concurrently, the Employment Development Department said 59,879 initial claims were processed in the October 2021 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 18,999 claims from September and a year-over decrease of 92,762 claims from October 2020.
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.
Lake County jobless rate flat in October; state, federal numbers improve
- Elizabeth Larson
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