Inland Unemployment Rate Rises In Early 2020

RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CA — A nosedive in payrolls throughout the regional economy pushed the unemployment rate higher to start off the year, state officials said Friday.

The jobless rate in January, based on preliminary estimates, was 4.2%, compared to 3.6% in December, according to the California Employment Development Department.

The rate was six-tenths of a percentage point lower than the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 4.8%.

Roughly 47,000 residents were out of work in January, and 1,060,800 were employed, according to the EDD.

Coachella had the highest unemployment rate countywide at 9.7%, followed by the unincorporated community of East Hemet at 6.6%, while the communities of Highgrove and Lakeland Village were each close behind at 6.5%.

The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties in January was 4.1%, up from 3.5% in December.

Bi-county data indicated payrolls shrank by the widest margin last month in the retail trade sector, which shed 17,500 jobs as outlets began cutting positions in the post-holiday period.

Additional losses were recorded in the construction, business services, financial services, information technology, leisure, manufacturing and public sectors, which altogether shaved 9,900 jobs, according to the EDD.

Only the health services sector and miscellaneous unclassified industries added positions -- an aggregate 1,400 -- while the agricultural and mining sectors were unchanged, according to figures.

The state's jobless rate in January was 4.3%.

EDD officials noted that publication of unemployment data is in a lag period because the state is undergoing its annual benchmarking revision process in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Labor, making corrections to past labor force estimates.

—City News Service