Unemployment Rate in Palo Alto Continues Downward Trend

Unemployment in Palo Alto in February remained at a low 5.5 percent, according to data released today by the California Employment Development Department.

The unemployment rate in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara region was 10.6 percent in February, down from a revised 10.8 percent in January and below the year-ago estimate of 11.9 percent. This compares with an unadjusted unemployment rate of 12.3 percent for California and 9.5 percent for the nation during the same period.

Palo Alto's unemployment rate is in October of last year.

The unemployment rate was 20.9 percent in San Benito County and 10.3 percent in Santa Clara County.

The nation's unemployment rate in February was 8.9 percent. The state's unemployment rate is based on a federal survey of 5,500 California households and does not include agricultural jobs, according to the department.

—Bay City News contributed to this report