Jobless Rate Nudged Up by Seasonal Job Seeking

The graduation season and a surge in tourism-related job openings caused Orange County’s unemployment rate to edge up by one-tenth of a percentage point in May, to 3.1% from 3% in April.

The numbers reflect new graduates beginning to seek permanent employment and seasonal workers entering the hunt for summer jobs, said Alta Gale, a labor market analyst with the state Employment Development Department, which released the statistics Thursday.

“After school gets out, a lot more people are available to look for work,” Gale said. “And people don’t find work on the first day out.”

Meanwhile, the number of jobs at Orange County businesses rose by 8,400 to a record high of 1,098,400 from April to May, according to the department. The increase reflects the higher summer staffing levels at county hotels, restaurants and amusement parks, Gale said.

Even with the slight upsurge in unemployment, Gale said, the county’s jobless rate is still its second lowest since the state began keeping statistics 13 years ago. It was also the second lowest in the state for May--trailing Marin County’s 3% but ahead of Los Angeles’ 6.2%. The national unemployment rate was 6.3%.

Gale traced the county’s healthy employment situation to continued growth in the services industry, especially in business services. Employment in services climbed by 2,500 during May to 270,600. The increase has been 17,100 jobs or 6.7% since May of 1986.

The highest annual percentage increase was in contract construction jobs, which jumped 9.3%--or 4,900 jobs--to 57,300 from 52,400 since May of last year.

Orange County’s jobless rate is expected to increase substantially in June, Gale said, because more graduates will join the work force and begin searching for jobs.