Unemployment Down In Mother Lode
Sonora, CA – There was an across-the-board drop for federal, state and local unemployment rates in December.
California’s unemployment rate fell two-tenths of a percentage point from November to 7% in December. However, there were fewer jobs gained in December, just 700, most were in the leisure and hospitality industries.
In the Mother Lode, Tuolumne County’s rate decreased from 7.2% in November to 7% in December. Calaveras County also dropped from 7.9% in November to 7.5% last month. The highest unemployment rate in the state remains in Imperial County, which inched down from 22.6% to 21% in December. The lowest rate is in Marin County, which dipped from 3.9% to 3.4%.
The Employment Development Department (EDD) released the report today. The EDD says the last time the state rate was at this level was June of 2008, just before the recession hit. The state has added more than 1.5 million jobs since the economic recovery began in February 2010, according to EDD figures, which show an increase of 320,300 jobs up 2.1% from December 2013 to the same month in 2014.
The nation’s unemployment rate is 5.6%.
