O.C. Jobless Rate Increases Again in May : Employment: Second straight monthly rise, to 5.9%, is largely blamed on national economy’s influence. But analysts say 1,000 new non-farm jobs mean modest recovery here remains on track.

Orange County’s volatile jobless rate shot up for the second straight month, to 5.9% in May, the highest level since September, the state’s employment office reported Monday.

The number of unemployed in the county rose by 5,800 between April and May, pushing up the jobless rate from 5.4% in April and 4.7% in March. Analysts said the rate increase appeared to signal a slowdown in the county caused mostly by the growing weakness in the U.S. economy.

“This is the first indication of Orange County’s reaction to the slowdown in the national economy,” said Anil Puri, an economist at Cal State Fullerton. Puri pointed out that the county relies more heavily today on exports, and, therefore, national trends are likely to hold more sway in the region than in past years.

But Puri and other analysts point to a separate payroll survey as evidence that the county’s modest recovery remained on track. The report showed that county employers added 1,000 non-farm jobs between April and May, mostly in construction and service sectors.

“It’s still growing--not fast, but growing,” said Eleanor Jordan, an analyst at California’s Employment Development Department office in Santa Ana.

Analysts tend to give more weight to the payroll jobs report, which can show growth regardless of the unemployment rate, because the two come from separate surveys. Payroll employment is based on data provided by county employers, while the jobless rate is derived from a survey of unemployment claims and of Orange County residents--about 20% of whom work in other counties.

Despite sharp increases in the past two months, Orange County’s jobless rate remained one of the lowest in the state as other counties also saw unemployment surge in May. The state’s employment office previously reported that California’s unemployment rate climbed to 8.5% in May from 7.9% the month before.

The U.S. rate dipped to 5.7% last month from 5.8% in April, but that decline was attributed to job seekers giving up the search for work rather than to any improvement in the national economy. Unlike the county data, both of these figures are adjusted for seasonal trends.

The monthly net increase of 1,000 jobs in Orange County was fueled by the construction and the service industries. The business service sector, largely temporary-help firms, continued its sharp yearlong growth by adding 900 jobs last month from April and 2,600 from May, 1994.

“I’m up 100% in volume over last year,” said Kim Megonigal, president of Kimco Staffing Solutions, an Irvine temporary-help firm with four offices in Orange County.

But as Megonigal observed, gains by temporary-help firms may suggest the opposite for the economy. “Many of our customers aren’t hiring people [on a permanent basis] because of uncertainties” about the economy and the county’s bankruptcy, he said.

About 30% of the county’s 1.1 million workers now hold jobs in the service sector, which grew by 7,300 from May of last year. But those jobs, which include hotel and amusement park employment, tend to pay less and offer more part-time work than jobs in other industries.

At the same time, the county’s long-eroding manufacturing sector was pummeled by the decline in the aerospace industry. Job losses continued in May as manufacturers of both durable and non-durable goods shed 1,000 jobs between April and last month.

Total government jobs in the county fell by 400 last month over April, half of that coming from layoffs in county government employment. The county, burdened by securities losses that put it in bankruptcy, employed 16,600 people last month--down from 17,700 a year earlier--to mark the county’s lowest employment level since 1991.

Jobs in retail trade grew by 400 last month, to a total of 200,500. Employment at county banks, insurance companies and real estate firms--a sector in which 5,000 people have lost jobs in the last year--held steady from April to May at 90,000.

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Jobs Increasing

The total number of jobs in Orange County has increased for four consecutive months, leaving the total 3,200 higher than last May. Total jobs, in thousands:

May 1994: 1,127.5

May 1995: 1,130.7

May Comparisons This May’s unemployment rate is well below the five-year May high, 6.5%, recorded in 1993. The total number of jobs, however, is 16,500 fewer than in May, 1991. Month of May percentage unemployed and total jobs, in thousands:

Unemployment rate 1995: 5.9

Total jobs 1995: 1,130.7

Employment by Industry Total non-farm employment in May was slightly higher than a year ago, despite job losses in three major categories. Number of jobs by industry category and percentage change from May, 1994:

Percentage change COUNTY May, 1995 ‘94-95 Mining 1,000 0.0% Construction 47,300 2.2 Manufacturing 203,900 -1.1 Durable goods 134,100 -2.0 Non-durable goods 69,800 0.9 Transportation/public utilities 40,500 5.5 Trade 282,000 1.0 Wholesale 81,500 3.2 Retail 200,500 0.1 Finance/insurance/real estate 90,000 -5.5 Services 336,300 2.2 Government 129,700 -2.0 Total non-farm employment 1,130,700 0.3

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