County’s Jobless Rate Rises to 3.5% in July

Orange County’s unemployment rate for July climbed to 3.5% from 3.2% in June, hitting its highest level since February, 1987.

The increase was largely attributed to school employees out of work for the summer, said labor analyst Dan Johnson of the state Employment Development Department.

The number of jobs in state and local government, which includes education, fell from 104,900 in June to 93,300 in July.

Statewide, the jobless rate decreased from 5.6% in June to 5.4%. In Los Angeles County, the rate rose to 5.6% from 5.1% in June.

Labor analysts said it is difficult to determine why the state jobless rate declined while the rates in Orange and Los Angeles counties rose. Month-to-month changes in the jobless rate are not considered statistically significant, they said.

Although Orange County’s rate was up, only two counties in the state recorded lower rates in July, both in the San Francisco Bay Area: 3.2% for San Mateo County and 3.3% for Marin County.

Economists generally considered areas with unemployment rates of 5% or less to have full employment.