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Small gains made in Stanislaus County’s unemployment
labor

The May unemployment rate in Stanislaus County took a slight move downward, according to the latest report from the Employment Development Department.

The unemployment rate for May came in at 6.1 percent, down from a revised rate of 6.3 percent recorded in April. The May rate is below the year-ago estimate of 7.2 percent.

Every sector in Stanislaus County except one reported job growth or stayed flat for the month of May. The one sector that saw a loss in jobs was Government, which lost an estimated 200 jobs for the month, according to the EDD. Most of those jobs were within school districts, which typically lay-off some employees at the end of the school year.

The sector leading job growth in Stanislaus County was Farming, which added an estimated 3,200 jobs for the month. Historically the sector sees growth all through the summer as more crops come to harvest. For the year-end rate the sector is down approximately 300 positions.

Trade, Transportation and Utilities, which includes retail jobs and Mining, Logging and Construction each added about 300 new positions in May.

Manufacturing, which was a stalwart in the local economy particularly in food processing, added 200 positions in May, however, it is down for the year-end rate by about 900 jobs, according to the EDD.

Leisure and Hospitality added an estimated 200 jobs, while Professional and Business Services and Health and Educational Services each added around 100 new jobs.

The unemployment rate in Merced County was at 7.8 percent in May, down from 8.7 percent in April. San Joaquin County was at 5.3 percent unemployment in May, down from 5.8 percent.

California had an unemployment rate of 3.7 percent and the nation’s was at 3.6 percent for the same time period.

Turlock’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.4 percent in May, down from 4.5 percent in April. Denair’s rate declined from 5.1 percent in April to 4.9 percent in May. Hughson had a May rate of 5 percent, down slightly from the 5.3 percent posted in April. Keyes saw a drop from 12.5 percent in April to 11.9 percent in May. Ceres had an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent in May, down from the 7.4 percent in April.

The occupations with the most help wanted ads in Stanislaus County for May were: Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers –484; Registered Nurses – 311; Retail Salespersons – 136; First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers – 99; Maintenance and Repair Workers – 94; First-Line Supervisors of Production and Operating Workers -89; Customer Service Representatives – 84; Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers – 83; Security Guards – 77; and Speech Language Pathologists - 66.

The 10 companies that posted the most help wanted ads for May in Stanislaus County were: Tenet Healthcare Corporation – 211; Ceres Unified School District – 113; Sutter Health –102; Modesto City Schools – 84; Turlock Unified School District – 84; E&J Gallo – 67; Nationwide Professional Resources, Inc. — 52; Robert Half International – 51; California State University System – 50; and Kaiser Permanente – 46.