State Jobless Rate Dips, Mother Lodes Jumps
Sonora, CA — California’s unemployment rate decreased to 5.1 percent in January. That’s down from 5.2 percent in December and 5.7 percent in January of last year. The state Employment Development Department reports that the state’s employers added 9,700 nonfarm payroll jobs during the month.
The Mother Lode did not follow that trend and instead rates went up. In Tuolumne County, the number rose from 6-percent in December to 6.7-percent in January. Calaveras County’s rate jumped from 5.4 percent to 6.1-percent during the same period.
Educational and health services posted the largest jobs increase, with a gain of 19,800 jobs, while trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest decline, down by 21,100 jobs.
San Mateo County had the lowest unemployment rate for a second straight month but it went up to 2.9 percent from 2.7 percent in December. Colusa County held the state’s highest jobless rate for a second month, up from 19.5 percent in December to 23.6 percent in January.
The U.S. unemployment rate increased 0.1 percentage point in January to 4.8 percent.
