Sonoma County Unemployment Rates Drop

Sonoma County and statewide unemployment rates continue to drop. 

Locally, the decline is partially thanks to more seasonal farm jobs and an increase in leisure and hospitality sector jobs, according to figures released by the state Employment Development Department on Friday. 

That translated to the Sonoma County jobless rate declining to 6.1 percent in May. The county's unemployment rate was 6.5 percent in April.

Rohnert Park, with a jobless rate of 5.9 percent, was below the county average. Cotati's unemployment rate was higher than the county, at 6.4 percent. Sebastopol boasts the city with the lowest unemployment rate in the county, at 3.9 percent. 

Comparing May 2013 to May 2012, there were 5,100 more jobs in the county this year than last.

The Sonoma County unemployment rate is lower than the state's, which declined to 8.6 percent in May. The national unemployment rate saw a slight uptick from April to May, rising to 7.6 percent.