Kern County Jobless Rate Back in Double Digits

Despite holiday retail hiring, Kern County’s November jobless rate jumped to double digits for the first time in four months.

November unemployment was 10.4%, up 1.3% from October. The increase is credited to seasonal layoffs after the end of harvest season that left an additional 3,000 people looking for jobs, said Sarah Parker, labor market analyst for the state’s Employment Development Department.

“This is what normally happens this time of year,” she said.

The state jobless rate for November was 4.6%, while the national rate was 3.8%.

Even with an increase in Kern County’s numbers, there were additional openings--about 700--posted for government, trade and mining, the Employment Development Department said. The big losses were in farming, which lost 2,100 jobs in November.

Compared to last year, Kern County is in good shape. November’s jobless rate is 2.3% lower than a year ago, with an added 5,000 jobs, Parker said.

“That’s the good news,” Parker said. “It’s showing that our economy is definitely growing.”

The gains made in non-farm employment in the past year, about 5,700 jobs, made up for the loss of 700 agriculture-related positions.

The service industry added about 1,900 workers over the year in business, health and other services. The bulk of those positions came from government hiring, mostly attributed to growth in schools.