LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The latest state report on unemployment shows that California’s rate rose slightly in February but Lake County’s went down.
The Employment Development Department said Friday that California’s unemployment rate increased to 5.3% in February, up from 5.2% in January, with a loss of 3,400 nonfarm payroll jobs. The state’s jobless rate in February 2023 was 4.5%.
In Lake County, unemployment in February was 7%, an improvement over the 7.4% rate reported in January. Lake’s February 2023 unemployment rate was 6.3%.
On the national level, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said the unemployment rate in February was 3.9%, up from 3.7% in January and 3.6% in February 2023. That’s the highest rate since January 2022.
Lake County’s total farm jobs rose by 13.5% while total nonfarm was up by 1.2% over January, the report showed.
Industries in Lake County with the largest job growth included wholesale trade, 14.3%; goods producing, 3.5%; and professional and business services, 2.7%. Only one industry reported a decrease — transportation, warehousing and utilities, which dropped by 1.5%.
California’s jobs market expansion turned 46 months old in February 2024. California has gained 3,037,600 jobs since the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, which averages out to 66,035 per month.
The number of Californians employed in February was 18,321,900, a decrease of 20,100 persons from January’s total of 18,342,000 and down 82,600 from the employment total in February 2023, the report said.
At the same time, the EDD said the number of unemployed Californians was 1,027,000 in February, an increase of 13,100 over the month and up 165,400 in comparison to February 2023.
The report said California's downward-revised January 2024 nonfarm jobs total mirrors the nation, which also saw a large downward revision of approximately 124,000 jobs.
California’s number of jobs in the agriculture industry decreased from January by 2,100 to a total of 425,000 jobs in February. The agriculture industry had 26,100 more farm jobs in February 2024 than it did in February a year ago, the report said.
Lake County’s jobless rate ranked it No. 35 out of California’s 58 counties.
Lake’s neighboring county jobless rates and ranks were: Colusa, 20.4%, No. 58; Glenn, 8.1%, No. 44; Mendocino, 6.2%, No. 27; Napa, 4.5%, No. 9; Sonoma, 4.4%, No. 8; and Yolo, 6.3%, No. 29.
San Mateo County had the lowest unemployment rate in the state in February, 3.7%.
In related data that figures into the state’s unemployment rate, the EDD said there were 425,760 people certifying for Unemployment Insurance benefits during the February 2024 sample week. That compares to 392,541 people in January and 380,768 people in February 2023.
Concurrently, EDD said 41,260 initial claims were processed in the February 2024 sample week, which was a month-over decrease of 5,936 claims from January, but a year-over increase of 677 claims from February 2023.
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