RivCo Unemployment Reaches Historic Low: Elsinore, Wildomar Rates

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA - Riverside County's unemployment rate dropped to its lowest point in the current century — and even a little farther back than that — dovetailing with a statewide trend, state officials said Friday.

The non-seasonally adjusted jobless rate in November, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.3 percent, compared with 5 percent in October, according to the California Employment Development Department.

In Lake Elsinore, the unemployment rate was 4.6 percent, while Wildomar's was just 4.3 percent, preliminary data shows.

The agency's online archive of unemployment data showed that, in the 21st century, the only time the rate was close to the current level in Riverside County was in May 2006, when unemployment stood at 4.4 percent, and before that, in May 2001, when the rate was 4.5 percent.

Historical data going back to 1990 also did not reveal a month when the rate was at or below 4.3 percent.

EDD spokesman Emerson Figueroa told City News Service that prior to 1990, the methods used to estimate the size of the labor force differed. So based on contemporary standards, "we can say that Riverside County registered the lowest unemployment rate we have on record," he said.

According to UC Riverside Center for Economic Forecasting Director Robert Kleinhenz, the Inland Empire's employment trends correlate to what's happening throughout California, where the seasonally unadjusted unemployment rate was 4 percent, and the adjusted rate was 4.6 percent.

"The fact that California's unemployment rate is at its lowest point since 1976 confirms that the state's labor market reached full employment in 2017," Kleinhenz said. "Nearly all the unemployment at this point is 'frictional,' or in other words, due to people leaving their jobs voluntarily. As we leave 2017 and enter 2018, growth across the state will be constrained by limited growth in the labor force."

There were 46,200 Riverside County residents out of work last month, compared to 53,800 in October, data showed.

Here is a breakdown of jobless numbers by Riverside County community:

• Riverside County Overall: 4.3%
  
• Banning city: 3.8%
• Beaumont city: 2.5%
• Bermuda Dunes CDP: 3.6%
• Blythe city: 4.8%
• Cabazon CDP: 10.7%
• Calimesa city: 2.8%
• Canyon Lake city: 3.2%
• Cathedral City city: 3.5%
• Cherry Valley CDP: 2.9%
• Coachella city: 6.7%
• Corona city: 3.3%
• Desert Hot Springs city: 5.1%
• East Hemet CDP: 6.1%
• Eastvale City city: 2.8%
• El Cerrito CDP: 3.1%
• Hemet city: 6.0%
• Highgrove CDP: 5.4%
• Home Gardens CDP: 3.3%
• Homeland CDP: 4.5%
• Idyllwild Pine Cove CDP: 2.6%
• Indian Wells city: 3.0%
• Indio city: 4.6%
• Jurupa Valley city: 5.6%
• La Quinta city: 2.7%
• Lake Elsinore city: 4.6%
• Lakeland Village CDP: 6.7%
• Lakeview CDP: 5.6%
• March AFB CDP: 8.5%
• Mecca CDP: 8.2%
• Menifee city: 5.0%
• Moreno Valley city: 4.6%
• Murrieta city: 3.4%
• Norco city: 3.4%
• Nuevo CDP: 4.2%
• Palm Desert city: 3.0%
• Palm Springs city: 3.5%
• Perris city: 6.3%
• Rancho Mirage city: 3.6%
• Riverside city: 4.1%
• Romoland CDP: 7.7%
• San Jacinto city: 6.5%
• Temecula city: 3.1%
• Thousand Palms CDP: 3.0%
• Valle Vista CDP: 4.8%
• Wildomar CDP: 4.3%
• Winchester CDP: 5.1%
• Woodcrest CDP: 4.0%

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in November was 4.1 percent, compared to 4.8 percent in October, officials said.

Bi-county data indicated that the retail trade sector recorded the biggest gains regionally, adding 12,000 jobs last month.

Meantime, the health services, professional services, agricultural, hospitality, construction and government sectors altogether added another 11,800 positions, according to figures. Payrolls also swelled by 700 jobs in miscellaneous unclassified industries.

Only the manufacturing sector contracted in November, shedding 600 jobs, while the mining and information technology sectors were unchanged, data showed.

— By City News Service and Patch Editor Renee Schiavone / Image via Shutterstock