S.D. County Jobless Rate Hits 3 1/2-Year High at 5.1%

San Diego County’s unemployment rate jumped to 5.1% in September, the highest rate of joblessness in 3 1/2 years and further evidence that the local economy is softening.

The monthly rate, up from 4.3% unemployment countywide in August, is still lower than statewide joblessness of 5.9% and the U.S. overall rate of 5.7% in September. Over the last several years, jobs generally have been more plentiful in San Diego than in the nation and most parts of the state.

But September’s was the highest jobless rate seen locally since unemployment reached 5.5% in January, 1987, said Jack Nowell, a labor market analyst with the state Employment Development Department. Rising unemployment is a trend throughout Southern California. Orange, Ventura, Riverside and San Bernardino counties all reported sharp rises in joblessness Thursday.

The jobs picture will worsen in coming months, most observers say. Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce senior vice president Max Schetter said San Diego’s unemployment rate could reach 6% in 1991.

Joseph Wahed, chief economist with Wells Fargo Bank, expects statewide employment to peak at 6.5% next year.

The new figures released by the state also show that job growth in the county has slowed considerably. For the 12 months ending in September, about 23,400 jobs were added to the county’s payrolls, bringing total jobs in the county to just under 1 million.

For the 12 months ending in September, 1989, about 31,000 new jobs were created, Nowell said.

The rise in San Diego County unemployment is being pushed by drops in certain job categories. Total manufacturing jobs in the county were 134,000 in September, down 2,000 from September a year previous. Construction jobs are down by 1,600, to 63,600, over the last year, and civilian Defense Department employees were down 400, to 23,600, in September.

San Diego’s unemployment rate has fluctuated at times from month to month, but the trend has been upward since November of last year, when the jobless rate bottomed at 3.5%, Nowell said.