LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — Lake County’s jobless rate improved in November, giving the county it’s lowest unemployment numbers since before the beginning of the pandemic.
The Employment Development Department’s new report said Lake County recorded a 5.8% unemployment rate, the lowest since February 2020, when it also was 5.8%.
Lake County’s rate in October was 6.2% and 7.4% in November 2020.
California’s overall unemployment rate declined from 7.3% in October to 6.9% in November. The state’s November 2020 jobless rate was 8.7%.
Nationally, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said unemployment dropped to 4.2% in November, down from 4.6% in October and 6.7% in November 2020.
Lake County’s labor force in November totaled 28,340 individuals, of which 1,650 were unemployed.
Its 5.8% unemployment rate ranked it No. 43 statewide.
The lowest jobless rate was in Marin, at 2.9%, while the highest was in Imperial, with 15.5%.
Lake’s neighboring county jobless rates and ranks were: Colusa, 10.3%, No. 57; Glenn, 5.1%, No. 29; Mendocino, 4.7%, No. 25; Napa, 4.2%, No. 14; Sonoma, 3.7%, No. 7; and Yolo, 4.3%, No. 16.
The state’s dashboard of unemployment claims showed Lake County residents filed 474 unemployment claims in November, down from 718 in October; it should be noted that there were five weeks reported for October, compared to four in November.
Employment picture improves across California
The number of Californians employed in November was 17,719,400, an increase of 79,900 persons from October’s total of 17,639,500, and up 735,500 from the employment total in November of last year, the report said.
The Employment Development Department said the number of unemployed Californians was 1,321,300 in November, a decrease of 61,900 over the month and down 299,400 in comparison to November of last year.
The report said California’s employers added 45,700 nonfarm payroll jobs to the economy, accounting for 22% of the nation’s 210,000 overall jobs gain for the month of November.
The state has now regained 1,889,000, or nearly 70%, of the 2,714,800 jobs that were lost in March and April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
California payroll jobs totaled 16,385,100 in November 2021, up 45,700 from October 2021 and up 821,800 from October of last year, the report said.
The report said that since February 2021, California has added 977,200 total nonfarm jobs, which averages out to be a gain of 97,720 jobs per month for that time period.
In November eight of California’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs with professional and business services (+18,800) leading the way due to large gains in professional, scientific, and technical services thanks, in part, to increases in scientific research and development services and computer systems design and related services.
Educational and health services (+9,500) also showed good month-over job gains thanks to strength in Ambulatory Health Care Services and Educational Services, the report said.
A notable improvement was reported in the agricultural sector.
The report said the number of jobs in the agriculture industry increased by 17,000 from October 2021 to 433,500 jobs in November. The agricultural industry has 19,800 more farm jobs in November 2021 than it did in November a year ago.
The Employment Development Department said construction’s sizable loss (-1,700) was largely due to reductions in Specialty Trade Contractors.
In related data that the Employment Development Department said figures into the state’s unemployment rate, there were 434,676 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the November 2021 sample week. That compares to 463,257 people in October and 1,278,220 people in November 2020.
Concurrently, the agency said 52,716 initial claims were processed in the November 2021 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 7,163 claims from October and a year-over decrease of 116,272 claims from November 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.