Countywide : March Unemployment Holds Steady at 3.8%

Even with the number of manufacturing jobs skidding for the third consecutive month, the county’s unemployment rate held steady at 3.8% in March, the same rate as February and down from 4.7% one ayear ago.

During the first three months of 1985, more than 1,900 manufacturing jobs were lost in the county, said Alta Yetter, labor market analyst for the state’s Economic Development Department. But during that same period, hundreds of new jobs were added at tourist-related businesses such as hotels and amusement parks, which are seeing an upswing in visitors.

“We’re still in pretty good shape,” Yetter said, noting that Orange County’s March unemployment rate is still about half the national rate of 7.3%, and well below the state’s rate of 6.9% and the Los Angeles figure of 6.5%. By next month, the total number of jobs in Orange County should exceed 1 million, Yetter predicted.

Last month, the total number of unemployed workers in the county fell by more than 8,000, to 50,900 from 59,100 one year ago, Yetter said. But substantial layoffs took place in the computer and oil tool equipment industries.

Employers in the aerospace sector, however, saw a 6% increase in March employment compared to a year ago. There were nearly 5,000 more defense-related jobs in the county in March than March, 1984.

Also, 1,500 more agricultural jobs were created last month when workers began harvesting the county’s lush strawberry crop.

But one of the busier employers of all last month was H & R Block.

Between January and March, Block hired 120 workers for its 15 offices in east Orange County, according to a spokesman at the district office in Santa Ana.

For the three months between Jan. 15 and April 15, Block kept many of its offices open seven days a week. Although the work schedule was heavy, employees knew that after April 15, many of their jobs would be eliminated.

“It really got hectic,” the spokesman said. “I was lucky to get my own taxes done in time.”