Orange County's unemployment rate rose to 9.6% in October from a revised 9.5% in September as people came into the job market faster than positions could be created, reported the Employment Development Department today.
Local employers added 8,200 jobs from September to October, but Orange County employment is down by 52,000 positions in the last year.
Statewide unemployment jumped to a modern-day record 12.5% from a revised 12.3% in September. California's jobless rate is fourth highest in the country after Michigan (15.1%), Nevada (13%) and Rhode Island (12.9%). Unemployment nationwide was 10.2% in October.
Orange County job cuts declined at a 3.5% rate from October 2008 to October 2009, a big improvement over the 4.9% rate earlier this year, but that's of little solace to people seeking work, said Esmael Adibi, an economic at Chapman University.
"When they see unemployment at 9.6%, they don't see any ray of hope," he said.
But some sectors showed the beginnings of an improvement, not only for their sectors but for the economy. Temporary agencies added 600 jobs from September to October and 1,600 in the last three months. Experts say that in an economic recovery those jobs typically turn into permanent positions six months later.
Educational and health service grew by 1,300 and tech layoffs, at least in electronic instruments and computer and electronics manufacturing, have stabilized.
Health care has been one of the few growing sectors in the last year, but the 300-plus attendees at a health care job fair in Anaheim this week gave mixed reviews about their prospects.
Rose Hayes, a Texas transplant who just moved to Lake Forest, was hopeful about quickly getting hired as an X-ray technician.
"All my friends who are in X-ray are working," she said.
Kelly Thananant, a nurse who was recruiting at the fair for Hospice Touch in Santa Ana, said his company is growing so quickly that it is constantly in need of new workers including nurses, doctors, home health aides and support staff.
But a group of students from Stanton University Nursing School, getting ready to graduate as licensed vocational nurses next month, were not convinced jobs were out there for them.
"They're all asking for one year of experience," said Bernard Ponce of Westminster. "I don't think it's a great market in today's recession."
Ponce's instructor, Nicholas R. Webb, who brought the two dozen students to the job fair, told them not to get discouraged.
"This is a chance for them to get exposed and build up their confidence," said Webb, a former Air Force medic who knows what it's like to be in the job market. "I'm very optimistic about their prospects."
Orange County continues to be the only Southern California county with unemployment under double digits. Here's how the other counties fared in October:
- Riverside: 15.1%
- San Bernardino: 14.0%
- Los Angeles: 12.6%
- Ventura: 11.1%
- San Diego: 10.5%
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