Countywide : Pre-Holiday Hiring Cuts Jobless Rate

Despite a nationwide economic downturn, unemployment in Ventura County decreased in October to 5.9% from 6.9% in September, according to the state Employment Development Department.

Officials said a total of 4,400 people entered the labor force, filling 3,800 vacant jobs and 600 new jobs.

Linda Reed, a labor market analyst for the state Employment Development Department, said the unemployment rate in Ventura County has routinely decreased in October for four years.

However, not since 1984 has the unemployment rate dropped by more than 0.6% in October, according to state statistics.

In 1989, the October unemployment rate in the county dropped from 5% to 5.6% in the previous month, according to state statistics. The rate grew to 5.2% in November, 1989, and dropped to 4.9% in December.

Reed said part of the reason the unemployment rate drops in late fall and early winter is because employers tend to hire more workers to meet the demand of the holiday shopping season.