Stanislaus County and Merced County both saw slight increases in their unemployment rates during the month of August, according to the State of California Employment Development Department.

In Stanislaus County, the unemployment rate rose to 5.2 percent during the month, which is up from the 5 percent mark for county unemployment that was reported for July. In Merced County, the unemployment rate also rose by a decimal, positing a 6.8 percentage in August compared to the 6.7 percentage in July.

The latest reports reveal that Stanislaus County and Merced County followed a similar trend as California as whole, with the state seeing an increased unemployment rate of 4.1 percent in comparison to July’s 4 percent mark.

Turlock’s unemployment rate in August was 4.3 percent and Denair’s was 7.8 percent. Keyes’ unemployment rate was 3.7 percent in August and Hughson’s was 3.6 percent. Hilmar was at 2 percent. Delhi’s was 7.9 percent and Livingston’s was 6.3 percent.

The statistics come as the neighboring counties saw mixed results in terms of labor forces. Stanislaus County saw an increase in the labor force, which rose from 242,800 workers to 244,000. In total, there are currently 12,600 unemployed individuals throughout the county. The same trends could not be said for Merced County, which saw the labor force drop by 0.1 percent to 109,200 individuals. Of that number, 800 members of the labor force remain unemployed.

For the second consecutive month in Stanislaus County, the industry that saw the most job losses was the State Government Education sector, which let go of nearly 100 workers. Meanwhile, there were significant gains made in the farming industry. For the first time in four months, the farming industry in Stanislaus County hired more individuals than they let go - adding over 1,200 jobs in August.

For Merced County, the opposite can be said for the industry that saw the most growth. As Stanislaus County saw significant job losses in State Government Education, Merced County hired more than 400 new employees for the industry in August, which is a 14.3 percent industry increase. The Merced County industry that saw the most employment losses was also a sector of state government, which were all jobs excluding education positions.

According to the state’s labor market database, there is still significant demand to fill positions in both counties. There are currently over 8,700 online job listings in Stanislaus County and over 2,500 in Merced County. The top three employment sectors in both Stanislaus County and Merced County are health care and social assistance jobs, retail trade jobs and manufacturing jobs.

With local and statewide unemployment rates on a slight rise, the national rate remains unchanged for the third straight month, sitting at 3.8 percent.