County’s unemployment rate shows continued improvement

EL CENTRO – Pandemic or no, the local unemployment rate in October was actually better than it was at the same time last year, according to figures released by the state Employment Development Department Friday.

The estimated unemployment rate in Imperial County was 18.8 percent in October, down from a revised 21.1 percent in September and below the year- ago estimate of 19.5 percent. That compares to a statewide average for October of 9.3 percent and a national rate of 6.9 percent.

One caveat regarding Imperial County’s unemployment rate compared to last year is that the workforce had about 3,900 more people in it. The preliminary estimate of the local labor force for October was 68,700 workers, compared to 72,600 workers in 2019.

The estimated 10,000 farm jobs was an improvement of 300 over September and roughly on par with the previous year, when there were 10,100. Non-farm jobs also showed improvement, with 49,500 compared to 48,800 in September. However, they were still well behind October 2019, when there were 53,400 nonfarm jobs in Imperial County.

Several sectors have contributed to the local year- over- year drop in non- farm jobs, including leisure and hospitality ( down 18.2 percent), educational and health services ( down 18.3 percent), information ( down 33.3 percent), and state and local government (down 10.5 percent).

At 9.3 percent, October marks the first month since March that California’s unemployment rate was below 10 percent and the fifth straight month it fell below its all- time high of 16.4 percent set in April and May.

Nine of the state’s 11 industry sectors gained jobs last month, EDD reported. For the second consecutive month, leisure and hospitality had the largest job gain with an increase of 66,000 jobs thanks to large growth in accommodation and food services, as well as arts, entertainment and recreation.

Professional and business services posted an increase of 35,800 jobs and was boosted by gains in professional, scientific and technical services, EDD said. Government posted the largest industry job loss statewide with a decline of 41,100 in October due to losses in federal government employment largely stemming from staffing reductions in census workers.

Imperial County’s unemployment rate remained the state’s highest, followed by Los Angeles at 12.1 percent and Tulare at 10.9 percent.

The counties with the lowest unemployment rates in October were Lassen at 5.2 percent and Marin at 5.4 percent.