La Mesa Jobless Rate at 8.7 Percent Among Lowest in State

It’s no comfort to La Mesans out of work, but the city’s 8.7 percent unemployment rate is among the lowest in the state, according to data released last week by the state Employment Development Department.

With an estimated 33,700 people in the labor force, La Mesa in January had 2,900 out of work, the state says. A year ago—January 2010—the city’s jobless rate was 9.3 percent.

La Mesa statistics are not seasonally adjusted.

Cities in the county with lower rates are Valley Center with 5.1 percent and Del Mar at 5.4 percent. The worst jobless rates locally are National City with 19.6 percent and Imperial Beach with 16.4 percent. San Diego County's jobless rate edged down to 10.3 percent in January, compared with 10.9 percent for the same period in 2010, according to the same report.

California's seasonally adjusted jobless rate was 12.4 percent in January, down from 12.5 percent in December and up slightly from the 12.3 percent rate from January 2010, according to the department. The U.S. Labor Department announced national numbers for February, with unemployment at 8.9 percent, and the addition of 192,000 nonfarm jobs from the month before.

Statewide, the highest jobless rates are just north of Sacramento—Colusa with 27.8 percent and Sutter 21.5 percent. Near El Centro, the town of Imperial was at 25.1 percent.  California cities with the lowest unemployment are Mono and Marin with 8.2 percent and San Mateo with 8.4 percent. San Francisco has a jobless rate of 8.9 percent and Los Angeles 13.1 percent.

The number of people unemployed in California was 2.24 million—down by 25,000 over the month, but up by 8,000 compared with January 2010, according to the state report

Seasonally adjusted figures show that five categories (mining and logging; construction; manufacturing; trade, transportation and utilities; and government) added jobs over the month, gaining 41,800 jobs. Trade, transportation and utilities posted the largest increase over the month, adding 19,200 jobs.

According to the report, Six categories (information; financial activities; professional and business services; educational and health services; leisure and hospitality; and other services) reported job declines this month, down 29,300 jobs. Information posted the largest decline over the month, down by 9,600 jobs.