Year-End Jobless Rate Decreases to 8.7% : Economy: Rise in holiday hiring helps bring the figure down from November’s double-digit level. But the county has 5,100 fewer jobs than a year earlier.

Ventura County’s jobless rate dropped to 8.7% at year’s end, a sharp decline from the double-digit rate in November, due in part to an increase of hiring during the holiday shopping season, state labor officials said Friday.

But despite the improved employment picture, the county’s economy remained weak at year’s end, with 5,100 fewer jobs than a year before, according to the monthly report released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

In a survey of county employers, labor officials found that the construction industry and agriculture each lost 1,000 jobs last year, government--especially military bases--lost 1,100 jobs, the retail trade was down 600 jobs and the manufacturing sector lost 500 positions.

The year’s drop in jobs was the second decline in the past three years, with a slight drop in the county’s payroll in 1990 followed by a gain of 2,600 jobs in 1991.

“You try to be optimistic, but I don’t know,” said Wayne Cataleno of the Carpenters District Council, which represents workers in the hard-hit construction industry.

“I can’t see an immediate turnaround, but we’re optimistic that under a new administration the economy will improve,” Cataleno said.

Marshall Milligan, the president of the Ventura-based Bank of A. Levy, said he is looking for a gradual improvement in the county’s economy.

“There’s a sense that people have adjusted their expectations to the new economic reality,” Milligan said. “Locally, we’ve been seeing some growth, but it’s so gradual we probably won’t notice it for another year.”

December’s drop in the jobless rate followed November’s revised rate of 10.2%, the year’s high and the highest rate in nearly 10 years. The year-end rate was the lowest since June, but well above the 7% jobless rate for the county a year ago.

The improvement followed the seasonal trend, with retailers adding 700 positions to handle holiday sales, and smaller gains of 200 jobs each posted by transportation and public utilities and the service industry.

For the first time in months, the rate in Ventura County dropped well below that of the state, which remained at 9.3% in December. Nationally, the jobless rate was 7% in December.

For the year, unemployment averaged 8.4% in Ventura County, up from 7% in 1991. It was the highest yearly rate since the 1982-83 recession.

Bruce DeVine, head economist for the Southern California Assn. of Governments, said signs of an improving economy have been measured in California but that the Southern California area has lagged behind.

But DeVine said job growth has not been a large part of the weak recovery. “As we’re finding on the national level, even with fairly bullish economic numbers in the fourth quarter, there’s still weak employment.”

News of a lower jobless rate was greeted with skepticism at the state unemployment office in Ventura on Friday, where many of the jobless waited to apply for benefits.

“I went all around the county filling out applications, but you never hear back,” said Alberto Ramirez, 42, of Santa Paula, who was laid off last June from his job as a delivery driver.

Ramirez said he has lowered his sights as the months have passed. “Now, I’m just looking for any kind of work,” he said.

Deryn Riggs, 20, of Ventura was laid off from a seasonal telemarketing job in October. He said finding a new position was not as easy as he expected.

“You’re either overqualified or under-qualified,” said Riggs, who has returned to school and finds occasional jobs as a musician. “Everything from toy store jobs to top secretarial work fills up as soon as they are advertised.”

Another applicant said competition has been fierce for the positions he’s applied for. Daniel Dailey, 29, of Oxnard said he has grown pessimistic looking for work since injuries from a traffic accident made his job stocking shelves at a store impossible.

“The experts seem to think the economy will get better,” Dailey said. “But I think it will stay the same or get worse.”