Santa Cruz County Unemployment Rate Still in Double Digits

Santa Cruz County's unemployment rate fell again in March, but remains in double digits, according to data released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

The county's unemployment rate dropped to 11.4 percent last month, down from 11.8 percent in February. The jobless figure also was markedly better than March 2012, when 13.6 percent of the labor force was looking for work.

Every city Santa Cruz County reported a slight improvement in the jobless rate from February to March. Santa Cruz experienced a bit of a decline in unemployment, reported at 9.5 percent in March compared to 9.9 percent in February.

Scotts Valley reported the lowest unemployment rates at 5.5 percent. The highest were in South County, where Watsonville had a jobless rate of 23.7 percent. It was 20.3 percent in nearby Freedom.

Between February and March, employment in Santa Cruz County grew by 500 jobs to reach 95,200, according to the EDD. Employment naturally rises during the spring and summer months in Santa Cruz County due to the large agriculture industry and tourism.

The growth includes:

• 500 farm jobs
• 300 new manufacturing jobs
• increases in government employment

However, the gains were offset by the loss of 200 jobs each in construction and transportation fields. There also were cutbacks in the education sector, according to the EDD.

Here is the city-by-city breakdown for Santa Cruz County.

# of People Unemployed in February

Santa Cruz County's unemployment rate was higher than both California and the nation, which were 9.4 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively.

The unemployment rate is derived from a federal survey of 5,500 California households.