Jobless rate for county is lowest

Marin ranks at bottom among counties in state

Marin County had the lowest unemployment rate of any county in California in November.

State unemployment data released on Friday showed Marin had an unemployment rate of 4.7% in November compared to the statewide rate of 7.9% and the national rate of 6.4%.

“It’s really a reflection of who lives in Marin County and their job stability,” Marin Economic Forum chief economist Robert Eyler said of the low rate. “You look at the profile of Marin County residents, it’s usually in higher-paying jobs, which have not been as affected as lowerwage workers.”

The unemployment rate only reflects Marin County residents and not workers who live outside the county and commute to Marin for work.

“A lot of Marin residents will commute to other counties as well including San Francisco,” California Employment Development Department research specialist Jorge Villalobos said, adding that many of these residents have been able to work remotely.

Many lower-wage workers who work in Marin live outside of the county because of the region’s high cost of living. Marin tied with San Francisco and San Mateo counties again in 2020 for being the topmost expensive counties in the nation to rent a modest two-bedroom home, according to the latest “Out of Reach” report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition organization. The report found a person must

make a wage of $64.21 per hour to afford renting such a home in Marin.

About 6,300 Marin residents were unemployed in November out of the county’s 134,400-member workforce. The workforce is made up of employed residents and unemployed residents actively seeking jobs within the past six months.

San Mateo and Marin County have historically ranked as first and second place for having the lowest unemployment rates. Smaller counties such as Sierra have been ranking as top low unemployment counties in recent months based on their smaller workforce size, which can lead to large fluctuations in their unemployment rates, Villalobos said. Sierra had the second- lowest unemployment rate in November at 5% but has a workforce of 1,280 people. San Mateo ranked third with a rate of 5.1% and had a workforce of 444,700 people by comparison.

Marin’s low rate for November is a return to normal in some ways, said Villalobos. However, the number of jobs located in Marin is still down by 10,000 compared to a year ago with about 5,700 of those jobs in businesses such as restaurants, hotels, bars and hair and nail salons.

Employment hasn’t recovered either. Marin County’s unemployment rate in November 2019 was 2.1%.

Marin’s 4.7% rate in November was just below the 4.8% rate recorded in November 2013 as the state was continuing to recover from the Great Recession. The record for November occurred in 2010 when Marin recorded 7.9% unemployment, according to Villalobos.

There was some higherthannormal job growth between October and November in sectors such as retail, leisure and hospitality,

Villalobos said. However, the surge of coronavirus cases and stricter stay- at- home orders implemented since the November numbers were collected will likely show their effects in future unemployment reports for December and January, he said.

How policymakers and business owners react in the coming months, especially as coronavirus vaccines continue to be administered, will determine how quickly Marin’s economy will recover, Eyler said. Marin’s unemployment rate could drop below 4% next year and full recovery may occur by mid-2022, he said.

“But a lot of it depends on how we turn the corner in the next couple of months,” Eyler said.