LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County achieved a record unemployment rate in September, according to the latest monthly jobless report from the California Employment Development Department.
The state reported that Lake County’s September unemployment rate was 4.3 percent, the lowest rate recorded since 1990, based on Employment Development Department data.
The previous record was 4.5 percent, which the county achieved in May, as Lake County News has reported.
Lake County’s August unemployment rate was 4.8 percent, and its year-ago September rate was 4.8 percent.
At the same time that Lake County was seeing a record-low in unemployment, the Employment Development Department California as a whole recorded a rate of 4.1 percent in September – a new record low level dating back to 1976.
In September 2017, the state’s unemployment rate was 4.5 percent. The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,100 California households.
California employers added 13,200 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, a year-over change of 339,600 jobs – up 2 percent – and the state has now gained a total of 3,013,300 jobs since the economic expansion began in February 2010. The report said nonfarm payroll jobs in California totaled 17,202,900 in September.
The federal household survey estimates the number of Californians holding jobs in September was 18,582,000, an increase of 34,000 from August, and up 81,000 from the employment total in September of last year. The number of unemployed Californians was 803,000 in September – with no change over the month, and down by 76,000 compared with September of last year, officials reported.
The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics said that the U.S. unemployment rate in September fell to 3.7 percent, and the nation’s employers added 134,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. That’s compared to 3.9 percent in August and 4.2 percent in September 2017.
The Employment Development Department’s data showed that Lake County’s civilian workforce totaled 30,370 people in September, up from 30,240 in August and 30,130 the previous September. The number of unemployed was 1,310 in September, compared to 1,440 in August – tying it with September 2017.
The total farm jobs category in Lake County dropped by 36.3 percent in September, while leisure and hospitality declined by 4.8 percent and manufacturing was down by 2.6 percent, based on the report.
Total nonfarm jobs rose by 1.6 percent. That includes government jobs, which grew by 7 percent and service producing, up by 1.6 percent.
Lake County’s jobless rate ranked it No. 35 out of California’s 58 counties. The lowest unemployment, 2.1 percent, was recorded in San Mateo County, while the highest was Imperial County, with 19.3 percent.
Neighboring county jobless rates and rankings in September were Colusa, 7.1 percent, No. 56; Glenn, 5.3 percent, No. 46; Mendocino, 3.4 percent, No. 18; Napa, 2.5 percent, No. 6; Sonoma, 2.4 percent, No. 4; and Yolo, 3.5 percent, No. 20, the report said.
In related data, the Employment Development Department reported that there were 284,790 people receiving regular Unemployment Insurance benefits during the September survey week. This compares with 306,175 in August and 312,933 in September of last year.
In September new claims for Unemployment Insurance totaled 34,519, compared with 35,925 in August and 39,575 in September of last 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.