The unemployment rate in Stanislaus County continued to make strides for the better as the jobless rate fell again, according to the latest report from the Employment Development Department.

The unemployment rate in Stanislaus County for March came in at 14.6 percent, down from a revised rate of 14.9 percent in February and below the year-ago estimate of 16.6 percent.

This is the second month in a row that the county has recorded an unemployment rate below 15 percent. Last year, the first time the county reached the 15 percent mark was in August, when agricultural hiring is high.

In Merced County the March unemployment rate was at 17.2 percent, down from 17.8 percent in February. San Joaquin County had an unemployment rate of 14.1 percent in March, down from the 14.7 percent posted in February.

California had an unemployment rate of 9.4 percent and the U.S. unemployment rate was at 7.6 percent for the same time period. Nonfarm jobs in California totaled 14,592,100 in March, an increase of 25,500 jobs over the month.

Several industries in Stanislaus County saw job growth for the month, with manufacturing, construction, government and educational and health services leading with an estimated 200 new hires each, according to the EDD. However, both manufacturing and government has recorded a loss in job growth for the year-over. Manufacturing is down by an estimated 100 positions and government is down by an approximate 400 positions.

For the year-over numbers the sector of trade, transportation and utilities, which includes retail, has seen significant growth. For the year-over the sector has added 1,100 jobs, according to the EDD. The majority of those jobs have been added within grocery and general merchandise stores.

In Turlock, the unemployment rate decreased to 11.1 percent from 11.3 percent the month before. Denair’s rate fell from 8.2 percent in February to 8 percent in March. Hughson’s rate went from 19.3 percent in February to 19 percent in March. Keyes had an unemployment rate of 25.4 percent, down from 25.9 percent. Ceres had an unemployment rate of 18.1 percent in March, down from 18.5 percent in February.

According to EDD data, the Stanislaus County employers posting the most help wanted ads for January were: E. & J. Gallo Winery – 164; Ceres Unified School District — 95; Sutter Health – 77; Tenet Health — 61; Miceli-Watters, Staffing Partners – 60; Kaiser Permanente – 53; Alliance WorkNet – 48; Emanuel Medical Center – 35; Soliant — 34; and Edward Jones — 33.