School Hirings Lower Jobless Rate Here to 3%

Orange County’s jobless rate fell to 3% in October, down from September’s 3.1% largely because of a last-minute flurry of school hiring, the state Employment Development Department said Monday.

The October rate, lowest since April’s 3%, compares to a 3.3% unemployment rate a year earlier.

Overall, of the county’s civilian labor pool of 1.35 million, an estimated 40,000 were unemployed last month, Daniel Johnson, county labor market analyst for the EDD, said.

State and local government reported the largest employment boosts in the county, with the total number of jobs in those sectors climbing by 4,400 to 119,000 from 114,600 in September, said Johnson.

He said the new jobs were accounted for in most part by “the tail end” of the annual hiring rush by school districts and educational agencies.

Only two other counties in the state had October jobless rates lower than Orange County: San Mateo County with 2.5%, down from 2.7% in September, and Marin County at 2.6%, down from 2.9%. Statewide, the unemployment rate was 5%, compared to September’s 5.2%, and nationally it was 5.2%, down from 5.3%.

Johnson said Orange County’s November and December jobless rate could dip below 3% because of an expected boom in retail employment as stores throughout the area increase their staffs for the Christmas season. In November, 1987, the rate fell to 3.1% from 3.3% the previous month, and it dropped to 2.5% in December.