County Jobless Rate Inches Up to 6.4%

After months of decline, the county’s jobless rate rose slightly to 6.4% in April, according to figures released Friday by the state Employment Development Department.

But the rate, up from 6% in March, remained well below figures for April, 1994, when 7.3% of the county’s work force was unemployed.

At the same time, the county’s economy added approximately 5,000 jobs, leading one economist to pronounce the local recovery still strong.

“It does seem to be one of the best reports we’ve seen,” said Mark Schniepp, director of UC Santa Barbara’s economic forecasting project. Schniepp downplayed the importance of the rise in the jobless rate. “Going from 6 to 6.4 is nothing to be alarmed at,” he said.

The higher rate came as more people entered Ventura County’s labor pool while the number of people with jobs stayed level. Between March and April, about 1,600 people joined the local work force, bringing its size to 383,600. Of those, an estimated 359,200 had jobs.

Agriculture accounted for nearly half the county’s new jobs, with 2,300 people hired between March and April. Rex Laird, executive director of the Ventura County Farm Bureau, said much of the increase was seasonal, as lemon, avocado and strawberry growers added work crews to harvest crops. Heavy rains in March, however, delayed some of the harvesting until April, leading to even more hiring.

“It’s suppressed activity from the previous month,” he said. “This year, there’s even been shortages on some crews.”

The number of non-farm jobs increased by 2,700 in April, with gains in retail, construction, service and local government employment. Only manufacturing jobs decreased in April, with 100 positions lost.

The losses in manufacturing were even more severe when compared with April, 1994. During the 12-month period, 1,400 manufacturing jobs disappeared as companies either relocated outside the county or trimmed their payrolls. More than half of those jobs were at high-technology companies, such as makers of computer and communications equipment and electronic components.

While Schniepp said that he expects that trend to continue, Steven Kinney, president of the Greater Oxnard Economic Development Corp., hopes the job losses have bottomed out.

In recent months, Kinney said he has worked with several companies he described as high-tech hardware firms interested in relocating to Oxnard. “I’m dealing with companies calling here with an interest in moving here, and they happen to be manufacturing companies,” he said. “It would be nice to see an increase in the manufacturing sector, because those are such high-impact jobs in the local economy.”

Other job categories grew during the year. The service sector--including communications, transportation and business services--added 1,900 jobs. Retail trade gained 1,100. And while the number of federal government jobs fell 7.3%, overall government employment rose 1.8%.