RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Payroll gains topped losses throughout the regional economy last month, pushing Riverside County’s unemployment lower, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.
The countywide jobless rate in November, based on preliminary EDD estimates, was 5.4%, compared to 5.7% in October.
According to data, the November rate was only two-tenths of a percentage point above the year-ago level, when countywide unemployment stood at 5.2%.
Mecca had the highest unemployment rate within the county in November at 13%, followed by Coachella at 11.6%, Cherry Valley at 9.6%, Desert Hot Springs at 7.7% and Rancho Mirage at 7.6%.
The combined unemployment rate for Riverside and San Bernardino counties — the Inland Empire — was 5.3%, down from 5.5% in October, the EDD said.
Bi-county data indicated payrolls expanded by the widest margin in the trade and transportation sector, mainly in retailing and warehousing, which added 11,500 positions ahead of the holiday season shopping period.
The agricultural, health services, professional business services and public sectors grew by an aggregate 6,900 positions, according to figures.
Payrolls shrank in the construction, financial services, information technology and manufacturing sectors, which shed an estimated 2,600 jobs. Miscellaneous unclassified industries also contracted by 500, while the mining and hospitality sectors were unchanged, according to data.
The statewide non-seasonally-adjusted unemployment rate last month was 5.3%.
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