Unemployment numbers rise in Glendale, Burbank area

January was a month of ups and downs for local unemployment rates as Glendale’s figures saw an uptick of nearly a percentage point from the previous month, while Burbank experienced a decrease, according to a new labor report.

The jobless rate in Glendale rose to 7.8% from 7.1% in December and Burbank’s numbers dropped 0.3% to 7.3%, according to statistics released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.

That translates to 8,200 and 4,400 people without work in Glendale and Burbank, respectively, the data stated.

The La Crescenta-Montrose area’s unemployment rate was 4.4%, up just 0.1%, while La Cañada Flintridge’s stance at 3.3% remain unchanged.

Don Nakamoto, executive director of the Verdugo Job Center, said Glendale’s rise in unemployment is due to two likely factors.

It’s possible that laid off seasonal retail workers hired over the holidays played a role as well as the departure of film production jobs, he said.

“We probably have one of the highest concentrations of entertainment jobs in the country in the Glendale-Burbank area,” Nakamoto said.

And, he noted, locations for those jobs are increasingly going elsewhere.

“A lot of that production for both motion pictures and television has been going to other states because of tax credits and cheaper production and so, they’ve taken quite a bit of work. Our employment pool here, which is considered the top talent pool in the industry, has been suffering,” Nakamoto said.

Statewide, 8.1% of the California’s workforce was without a job, about flat from December and lower than the 9.5% rate in January 2013.

About 15,000 jobs were added to fields like manufacturing, education and health services, but others like construction and trade posted losses totaling roughly 46,500 positions, according to the data.

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Follow Arin Mikailian on Twitter: @ArinMikailian.

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