RivCo Ends 2014 with Jobless Rate Below 8 Percent

Riverside County ended 2014 with an unemployment rate of 7.4 percent -- the lowest it’s been in nearly seven years, state officials reported Friday.

The county’s jobless rate in December, based on preliminary estimates, was eight-tenths of a percentage point lower than in November, and 1.5 percentage points below where it was in December 2013, when unemployment stood at 8.9 percent.

California Employment Development Department figures show that the last time the county’s unemployment rate was at or below its current level wsaa in March 2008, before the nation plunged into the Great Recession.

The countywide civilian labor force numbered 959,000, with 70,800 people out of work in December, according to government data.

The unincorporated community of Cabazon had the highest unemployment rate countywide, at 19.6 percent, followed by Mecca at 15.4 percent and Homeland at 15.1 percent.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in December was 7.2 percent, down from 8 percent the prior month.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded in all but a few sectors, with retail trade posting the largest gain of 2,000 jobs, thanks to the holiday season hiring blitz.

Sectors in which payrolls contracted included construction, financial services and uncategorized services, which altogether shed 3,200 positions in the final month of 2014.

The state’s non-seasonally-adjusted jobless rate in December was 6.7 percent, according to the EDD.

– City News Service.

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