Los Angeles County unemployment rate is unchanged at 8.1%

Los Angeles County’s unemployment rate remained at 8.1% in August, according to figures released Friday.

The number of Angelenos available for work rose by 5,000 people, according to the California Employment Development Department. Nearly 4.6 million people in the county had jobs last month, 3,000 more than in July.

But the ranks of the unemployed also swelled, rising by 2,000 workers to 405,000 people.

The current rate, however, marks an improvement from the 9.9% unemployment rate of a year ago.

Since August 2013, the professional and business services sector expanded payrolls by 31,800 jobs, followed by a 20,700-job boost among educational and health services employers.

The only industry in the county that has lost jobs year over year is manufacturing, which shed 15,500 positions.

The statewide unemployment rate also stayed stagnant at 7.4% in August with 15.5 million nonfarm jobs. The state added 44,200 such jobs from July; since the recovery began in February 2010, more than 1.4 million jobs have been gained.

The construction, and professional and business services industries led the jobs recovery to an improvement over last year. Construction employers added 35,600 jobs from August 2013, a 5.6% surge. An additional 93,000 professional and business services jobs contributed to a 4% upswing.

Manufacturing and financial activities companies were the sole laggards in the last year, with the latter sector responsible for the bulk of the lost jobs.

Some 411,000 Californians received unemployment insurance benefits in August, down more than 15,000 from July. The government received fewer claims as well -- 47,640 from 56,565.

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