Unemployment Rate in County Jumps to 3.2%

Propelled by a seasonal influx of job seekers, Orange County’s unemployment rate jumped to 3.2% in May from April’s 2.9%, the state Employment Development Department reported Thursday.

As it has for more than two years, the county’s jobless rate remained the lowest in Southern California and third lowest of the state’s larger counties, said Eleanor Jordan, EDD labor market analyst.

Total unemployment in the county climbed to 44,100 in May, the state estimated, up from 40,900 in April. Jordan said the increase came from the normal early summer addition to the labor force of early college graduates and job hunters moving in from out of the area.

There were no significant changes from April in any of the job categories the state tracks, Jordan said.

But the total number of jobs in the county has grown slightly over the past year, she said, hitting almost 1.23 million in May, a 2.1% increase from 1.2 million in May, 1989.

Almost all of that increase of 25,100 jobs came in the service, government and finance-insurance-real estate sectors of the county’s economy, Jordan said.

Manufacturing lost 1,700 jobs during the 12-month period, with most of loss--1,500 jobs--occurring in the high-technology sector and reflecting a nationwide slowdown in the computer business.

Non-durable manufacturing posted a small gain of 500 jobs for the year, mainly in food processing and the printing industry.