County’s Jobless Rate Declines to 4% for August

Orange County’s characteristically low unemployment rate dropped seven-tenths of a point in August, falling to 4%--one of the lowest rates in the state--from 4.7% in July.

A year ago, unemployment stood at 4.8% of the county’s work force. The lowest jobless rate for the county this year was 3.7% in May.

The county posted the third lowest unemployment level in California, lagging behind only Marin’s 3.3% and San Mateo County’s 3.8%.

Los Angeles--with its much larger work force--had an unemployment rate of 7.8% in August. Statewide, the rate was 6.6%, down from 7.1% in July, while nationally the rate dropped three-tenths of a point to 6.7% in August.

According to figures released by the state’s Employment Development Department, 48,800 of the 1.21 million people included in the Orange County’s civilian labor force for August were unemployed, compared to 56,800 of 1.22 million potential workers in July and 56,700 of 1.19 million a year earlier.

The EDD report says that 1,400 seasonal farming positions were eliminated in August but that scattered hiring by aerospace firms added 800 jobs to that category for the month. Manufacturing companies--which lost 1,900 jobs in August, 1985--lost only 400 this August.

Work-force reductions in manufacturing and government jobs in 1985 are still affecting the county’s employment, which showed a sluggish 1.3% annual rate of gain in August. In January, 1986, in contrast, the county annual employment growth rate was 3%.

Alta Yetter Gale, labor market analyst with the EDD in Santa Ana, said of the August rate, “compared to recent years, it’s a pretty poor showing.”

She also said that downturns in manufacturing had a ripple effect on hiring in other, non-industrial businesses. The losses in manufacturing, Yetter Gale said, stem largely from the dramatic drop in oil prices over the last year.

The largest job gain for August was posted in the retail trade section, where employment increased by 5,500 jobs. Service industries added 4,800 jobs; finance, insurance and real estate companies added 3,400 jobs; and wholesale businesses increased by 2,800 jobs for the month.

The aerospace industry continues to lag 400 jobs behind last August’s employment rate of 91,000. Worst hit within the aerospace field are computer companies, which are “substantially below” last year’s level of employment, Yetter Gale said.

“The computer manufacturing industry nationwide has been having a shakeout for the last couple of years. Our rate is a reflection of the whole national scene,” she said.

The number of people working in Orange County, excluding the self-employed, dipped by 700 between July and August to 1,017,900. Yetter Gale attributed that to a decline of 1,400 agricultural jobs, offset by a 700 job increase in nonagricultural positions.