County's Jobless Rate Continues to Fall

With hiring strong in virtually every sector of the regional economy, Riverside County’s unemployment rate fell again last month, state officials reported Friday.

The county’s jobless rate in November, based on preliminary estimates, was 8.2 percent, compared to 8.4 percent in October, according to the California Employment Development Department.

It was the fourth straight month of declining unemployment, with the rate now 1.3 percentage points below the year-ago level of 9.5 percent, figures showed.

According to government data, the countywide civilian labor force numbered 966,800, with 79,600 people out of work in November.

The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide, at 21.6 percent, followed by Mecca at 17 percent and Homeland at 16.7 percent, according to the EDD.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in November was 8 percent, down from 8.1 percent the prior month.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded in all but two sectors -- professional services and mining. The latter was unchanged from October, while roughly 300 office positions were shed last month.

However, every other category showed job gains, the largest of which was in retail trade, as businesses geared up for the holiday shopping blitz. That sector added 7,800 jobs, according to the EDD.

The agency said that, in total, the inland job market expanded by 15,700 positions, and about 2,000 of those jobs were in the public sector, primarily education, as the 2014-15 academic year got into full swing.

The state’s non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in November was 7.1 percent, the EDD said.

--City News Service