O.C. Jobless Rate Boosted to 3.6% by Seasonal Factors

Swelled by a seasonal flood of students and school employees released for the summer, Orange County’s jobless rate jumped to 3.6% in July from 3.3% in June, the state Employment Development Department reported Thursday.

The increase added 5,100 people to the official count of unemployed, job-seeking county residents, bringing the total for the month to 51,100.

That figure is identical to the 51,100 figure for July, 1989, said county labor market analyst Eleanor Jordan. But because the total labor force was slightly larger a year ago--1.45 million people compared to 1.42 million last month--the July, 1989, unemployment rate was 3.5%, Jordan said.

Total employment at firms in the county dropped by 9,600 jobs in July, to 1,228,400 positions from 1,238,000 in June, but still up 1.8% from 1,207,100 jobs in July, 1989.

Most of the decline was accounted for by normal seasonal reductions in school payrolls--down 12,000 positions in July from June, Jordan said.

But manufacturing firms in the county dropped a total of 900 employees from their payrolls during the month, bringing total manufacturing employment to 258,000--or 21% of all jobs in the county--down from 259,200 positions in July, 1989.

Most of the manufacturing decline over the 12-month period has come from layoffs and plant closures in the defense and electronics industries, which have been hard-hit by federal spending cuts and an ongoing slump in computer sales.

Sizable increases in business services, retail, wholesale and transportation and public utility payrolls have more than offset the manufacturing decline, however.

Orange County’s July jobless rate remained the lowest of the Southern California counties and the third lowest of all 58 counties in the state, trailing only San Mateo County’s 3.2% rate and Marin County’s 3% rate.

Among the Southern California counties, Riverside was highest with a 9.5% jobless rate for July, followed by Ventura, 6.6%; San Bernardino, 6.4%; Los Angeles, 5.4%; and San Diego, 5%.

Nationally, the July unemployment rate hit 5.5%, while California’s jobless rate was 5.1%.