UNEMPLOYMENT: Mother Lode jobless rates drop,

August marked one of the largest monthover-month declines in the jobless rate for both Tuolumne and Calaveras counties, with each either falling faster or keeping pace with the same for California and the United States as a whole.

Calaveras County’s unemployment rate in August was below both the U.S. and state rates, while Tuolumne County’s was slightly better than the state’s but higher than the national percentage.

The preliminary unemployment rate in August for Tuolumne County was 10.2 percent, down 2.5 percentage points from the revised rate in July, while Calaveras County’s dropped 2.1 percentage points from 9.6 to 7.5 percent.

California’s preliminary unemployment rate of 11.4 percent in August was down 2.1 percentage points from the previous month, while the U.S.’S overall rate of 8.5 percent was down 1.8 percentage points over the same period.

There were 1,550 Calaveras residents unemployed in August, down from 1,990 in July, but the overall labor force participation also shrunk by 60 people to 20,570.

Tuolumne County had 2,000 people unemployed in August, which was 510 less than in July. The labor force participation also declined by 250 people over the same period, from 19,810 to 19,560.

The biggest gains in Tuolumne County for August were seen in the service providing and government sectors, which added 360 jobs combined. Calaveras County’s biggest growth was in farm jobs with 60 jobs added and service providing with 50 jobs added.

Calaveras County’s rate at the height of the pandemic-induced economic shut down in April was 13.3 percent, the highest it had been since March 2012 but not as bad as the 30-year record of 15.5 percent in January 2011 during the fallout from the 2008-2010 recession.

Tuolumne County’s 17.2 percent unemployment rate in April, the highest it had ever been since the state started keeping records of the monthly rates for counties in 1990.

The state’s 11.4 percent unemployment rate in August was the first month since March to dip below the previous record of 12.3 percent set at the height of the Great Recession in March, October and November 2010.