San Diego’s Jobless Rate at 8-Year High : Unemployment: There’s no sign of a recovery from the recession as joblessness inches up to 7.1%.

San Diego County’s unemployment rate edged up to 7.1% in May, the highest local rate since January 1984 and further evidence that the region is still mired in a recession.

The local jobless rate, which compares with 6.9% in April of this year and 6.2% in May of 1991, was affected by continuing softness in manufacturing and retailing job categories, said Lucile Sullivan, a research analyst with the state Employment Development Department.

Total manufacturing jobs in the county dropped to 128,800, off 6,200 or 5% over the year. Trade employment, which includes retailing and warehouse jobs, totaled 223,100 in May, down 7,600, or 3%, from a year ago.

“This does reflect the fact that there is no clear indication of a recovery from a recession that began more than a year and a half ago,” said Max Schetter, research chief at the Greater San Diego Chamber of Commerce.

Total non-agricultural salaried and wage jobs in San Diego County in May were 958,300, down more than 20,000 from the 979,700 employed a year previous and off by more than 42,000 jobs from the high-water mark of 1,000,500 countywide jobs in December 1990, Sullivan said.

Of small comfort to the growing rolls of local unemployed was that San Diego’s jobless rate was lower in May than the state’s and nation’s. California’s unemployment rate was 8.8%, up from 7.7% in May 1991. The U.S. jobless rate was 7.2% in May, up from 6.6% in April 1991.