Unemployment’s High in Pockets of O.C.

Despite having one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state, pockets of relatively high unemployment remain in Orange County. Santa Ana’s jobless rate last month was 6.2%, and Stanton’s was 6.1%. That compares with the county’s overall jobless rate of just 3.5%.

The two cities were recently cited on the Labor Department’s list of official “labor surplus areas”--in other words, areas where too many people don’t have jobs.

Cities with a jobless rate of at least 6.7% during 1995 and 1996 made the list. Businesses in these federally designated labor surplus areas are given special consideration by government agencies when they are doling out contracts. “It’s not a guarantee, it’s a preference,” said Labor Department spokesman Tom Edwards.