County Jobless Rate Holds at 6.7% in March : Employment: Steady figure and a reported slight increase in hiring suggest an economic upturn may be at hand.

Reports that Orange County’s jobless rate stayed static in March at 6.7% as local businesses posted a slight increase in employment fanned cautious optimism Monday that the county’s economy verges on an upturn.

The number of non-agricultural jobs in the county grew by 3,100 for the month to 1,110,000 from February’s 1,106,900, said Eleanor Jordan, the state Employment Development Department’s labor market analyst for Orange County.

Boosts in construction, manufacturing and service jobs contributed to the total increase, according to the statistics that track economic conditions in the county more closely than the broader-based unemployment rate released Monday by the EDD.

The increase in local jobs was partially due to seasonal shifts in employment. Construction and retail businesses generally pick up in spring after a slump during the post-Christmas period.

Chapman University economist Esmael Adibi tempered the apparent good news by pointing out that despite the boost in employment in March, a total of 6,000 local jobs have disappeared since March 1993, forcing many workers to seek self-employment opportunities.

“Payroll employment is still declining on a year-to-year basis, which indicates that companies are resisting hiring,” he said. “Companies are meeting an increased demand for goods and services with existing employees by asking them to work overtime.”

Still, Adibi said, there are clear signs of improvement and ultimately businesses will have to hire new employees to meet increased demands.

As usual, Orange County fared significantly better than Los Angles County, which showed a jobless rate of 9.4% in March, down from 9.7% in February. California as a whole had a drop in unemployment of nearly one percentage point, from 9.8% to 8.9%. Orange County’s population has a higher median income and education level than the state’s.

Dolores Cronin, owner of Corporate Careers Inc.--an Irvine recruiter of salespeople for companies--said she has seen the beginnings of an economic turn-around.

“Our job orders have doubled since this time last year,” she said. “It’s a very good indicator that the economy is picking up. When companies start to turn around, they first need salespeople, then they need to support the sales effort by adding to their manufacturing and distribution departments.”

Jobless Rate Steady

Orange County’s March unemployment rate was 6.7%, the same as in February. The number is slightly up from March, 1993, when it reached 6.6%.

March 1993: 6.6% April: 5.9 May: 6.5 June: 7.1 July: 7.9 Aug.: 6.9 Sept.: 7.1 Oct.: 7.0 Nov.: 6.0 Dec.: 5.7 Jan. 1994: 7.2 Feb.: 6.7 March: 6.7

Source: Employment Development Department; Researched by JANICE L. JONES / Los Angeles Times