Inyo, Mono unemployment rates remain low

Numbers indicate few are looking for jobs

The “Help Wanted” signs in the windows of Eastern Sierra businesses are probably going to be staying put for the foreseeable future.

Inyo and Mono counties are enjoying low unemployment rates, which means there are not many workers looking for a job in either county.

Inyo County recorded a 2.8% unemployment rate in September of 2022, according to the latest data from the California Employment Development Department. Mono County saw a slightly higher unemployment rate of just 3.4%.

Both counties have seen their unemployment rates remain fairly stable over the past three months. Inyo County’s unemployment rate was 3% in July and 3.1% in August. Mono County had unemployment rates of 3.1% and 3.5% in July and August, respectively. Both counties started 2022 with unemployment rates around 4%.

The steady, low unemployment rates for both counties counters the oftrepeated complaint from businesses that “no one wants to work.”

Instead, the data reveals there is a very small pool of workers looking for a job. The state estimates there are only 240 unemployed workers in Inyo County, which has a current working workforce numbering 7,530. The state estimates Mono County has just 300 workers seeking a job, while 8,080 people are laboring away.

The same situation is playing out across the state. The EDD reported the California unemployment rate hit a recordtying low of 3.9% in September, with August

also coming in at the record low. The state has seen 12 straight months of job gains. That translates into recovering 99.1% of all the “nonfarm” jobs lost during March and April of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to EDD. In September 2022, there were 19.3 million Californians at work.

In general, economists consider any unemployment rate below 4% to be “full employment.” The national unemployment rate is 3.5%.

With the workforces almost evenly split between the service and government sectors, Inyo County’s economy is more diverse than Mono’s, which relies almost solely on the service sector for the bulk of the jobs in the county.

The state reported Inyo County had 7,500 total “non-farm” workers with an additional 30 employed in agriculture for a total workforce of 7,530.

The private service sector accounts for 3,7890 workers in the county. The largest job generators are the leisure and hospitality sector with about 1,490 jobs; followed by transpor tation and utilities at 1,170, retail trade at 880 and education and health services with 470.

Inyo County also has about 540 jobs in the goods-producing sector, which includes mining, logging, construction and manufacturing, with the bulk, 290, in producing “non-durable goods.”

The government employment sector accounts for about 3,170 jobs in Inyo County, with the federal government employing 290, state and local government accounting for 2,8890.

Mono County’s employment picture is fairly straightforward. The county counts 70 farm/agricultural workers and 8,010 total employees.

The service sector is responsible for 7,420 jobs of that total. Leisure and hospitality come in at 3,920 jobs, with retail jobs at 590. Transportation and utilities account for 640 jobs. Government jobs come in at 1,790, with 240 federal jobs and 1,550 state and local government jobs.

The state unemployment and job data for September 2022 were released on Oct. 21.