Temecula, SW RivCo Jobless Rates: December Figures Released

TEMECULA, CA — Despite swings in sectors throughout the regional economy, Riverside County's unemployment rate dipped lower in the final month of 2019, state officials said Friday.

The jobless rate in December, based on preliminary estimates, was 3.7 percent, compared to 3.8 percent in November, according to the California Employment Development Department.

The rate was four-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.1 percent.

Roughly 41,000 residents were out of work in December, and 1,070,400 were employed, according to the EDD.

Coachella had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 10.2 percent, followed by the unincorporated community of Cabazon at 8.3 percent and the unincorporated community of Highgrove at 6.4 percent.

December's jobless rates across Southwest Riverside County:

• Canyon Lake: 2.6 percent
• Lake Elsinore: 3.5 percent
• Lakeland Village: 5.9 percent
• Menifee: 3.7 percent
• Murrieta: 2.9 percent
• Temecula: 2.8 percent

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in December was 3.5 percent, down from 3.6 percent in November.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin last month — 2,500 — in the retail trade sector, as outlets boosted hiring for the holiday shopping season.

Additional gains were recorded in the farming and business services sectors, which altogether expanded by 900 jobs, according to the EDD.

Losses were documented in the construction, financial services, health services, information technology, leisure and public sectors, which shed an aggregate 3,400 positions. Payrolls also contracted by 700 in miscellaneous unclassified industries.

The state's jobless rate in December was 3.7 percent.

—City News Service contributed to this report.