RIVERSIDE, CA — Job gains outweighed losses across the regional economy last month, pushing Riverside County's unemployment below 6%, according to figures released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.
The countywide jobless rate in September, based on preliminary EDD estimates, was 5.9%, compared to 6.2% in August.
According to figures, the September rate was two-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 6.1%.
The latest EDD estimates indicated Coachella had the highest unemployment rate within the county last month at 11.7%, followed by Cherry Valley at 10.9%, Blythe at 10.7%, Rancho Mirage at 8.6%, and March Air Reserve Base at 8.4%.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties — the Inland Empire — was 5.7%, down from 5.9% in August, the EDD said.
Bi-county data indicated payrolls increased by the widest margin in the public sector, mainly in education, as teachers and support staff at grade schools fully reintegrated into the workforce following summer break.
Additional gains occurred in the agricultural, health services and transportation sectors, which altogether rose by 2,500 positions, according to figures.
Payrolls shrank in the construction, financial services, hospitality, information technology and manufacturing sectors, which dropped by an aggregate 3,600 positions. Miscellaneous unclassified industries also contracted by 600 jobs, EDD said.
The mining and professional and business services sectors were unchanged.
The statewide non-seasonally adjusted unemployment rate in September was 5.1%.
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