San Juan Capistrano Unemployment Dips Below 5 Percent

In May, the San Juan Capistrano unemployment rate dropped below 5 percent for the first time since the summer of 2008, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.

Last month an estimated 900 San Juan Capistrano residents were looking for work, the CEDD said. That's the same as April, and 300 fewer than May 2012.

In the past five years, unemployment was highest in July-August. 2010, when the rate reached as high as 8.7 percent. Unemployment steadily fell in 2012, beginning the year at 7.2 percent and finishing at exactly 6. 

The preliminary numbers for May 2013 show the rate at 4.8 percent.

As a whole, Orange County had an estimated 89,000 unemployed residents in May, with 1.5 million working residents.

The state's non-seasonally adjusted rate was 8.1 percent in May- seasonal adjustment accounts for seasonal shifts in labor such as increased construction and agricultural work in spring and summer - only non-seasonally adjusted figures are available for individual cities.

How to Use the Map

You can see how every city in the state fared in May's report, by clicking on it in the above map.  The blue cities are within 10 percent of the state average, the light green are have unemployment rates at least 50 percent lower than state average, and darker green cities are between.

Patch Editors Peter Schelden and Dan Abendschein contributed to this report.