Unemployment in County Dips to 6.8% : Labor: The rate for June drops from May’s 7.1%, and the work force expands. Manufacturing and government show the biggest increases in jobs.

After two months of rising unemployment in Ventura County, the jobless rate fell last month to 6.8%--a sign that the county’s rocky recovery has not yet stopped.

The number of non-agricultural jobs grew to 234,100, an increase of 1,400 jobs since May, when the unemployment rate reached 7.1%, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. During June of last year, the rate was still higher--7.2%.

But in March, 1995, the rate fell as low as 6%.

In addition, the county’s work force started growing again last month, after a decline in May, and now stands at 379,100 people.

Although the number of workers increased, the growth in jobs still lagged behind last year’s performance, said Mark Schniepp, an economist with UC Santa Barbara. “We’ve seen a definite slowing in job creation in Ventura County,” he said.

The biggest employment increases came in manufacturing and government, with each field adding about 400 jobs. The finance, real estate, and insurance industries each grew by about 200 jobs.

Steve Rubenstein, president of the Conejo Valley Chamber of Commerce, said the eastern county was still benefiting from the influx of businesses and shoppers driven north from Los Angeles by the Northridge earthquake.

“A lot of people discovered this area over the last year,” he said.

Jamshid Damooei, a professor of economics at Cal Lutheran University, said the county’s proximity to Los Angeles and its quality of life could help it attract jobs.

“Ventura County does have that potential because it can attract big business,” Damooei said.

Although he cautioned that California and the nation were still caught in the shift away from higher-paying manufacturing jobs, he said some counties may benefit from the service economy. That includes gains in retail sales, food services and business consulting sectors.

Last month’s increased employment in business services, up 2.1%, and transportation and public utilities, which rose 2.6%, were good examples, he said.

Not all job fields gained last month. Agricultural jobs, which had grown steadily for much of the year, dropped 10.7% from May, down to 21,800.

Rex Laird, executive director of the county’s farm bureau, said some of the decline was seasonal and represented the end of the strawberry season. He said, however, that he was surprised by the size of the decline.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Ventura County Jobless Rate Monthly figures 1992-1995 June, 1995: 6.8% *

Annual Rates 1994: 7.4% 1993: 8.8% 1992: 8.8% Source: State Employment Development Department