The unemployment rate in Stanislaus County stayed flat for the month of September, as an estimated 24,300 people were without work for the month, according to the latest numbers from the Employment Development Department.
Stanislaus County's unemployment rate in September was at 10.3 percent, unchanged from a revised rate of 10.3 percent in August. The rate is well-above the year-ago estimate of 4.8 percent.
Professional and Business Services saw the largest job losses for the month, with an estimated drop of 600 positions, according to the EDD. That sector was followed by Manufacturing, which saw an approximate decline of 300 jobs for the month.
The Government sector posted the largest job gains for the month, with an estimated 1,000 positions added for the month. The majority of those jobs were at local school districts, which saw teachers, administrators and other staff return to the workforce with the start of school.
That sector was followed by the Leisure and Hospitality sector, which added around 400 positions in September.
While several sectors posted job gains for the month of September, every sector but one is down in jobs from the year-over numbers, the EDD reported. The Leisure and Hospitality sector has recorded the largest drop, with an estimated 4,600 fewer jobs than the same time last year. That sector is followed by Trade, Transportation and Utilities, which is down by approximately 3,900 jobs. Within that sector, clothing stores have taken the largest hit with 42 percent of the job losses.
Other sectors reporting large job losses for the year are: Farming (2,200), Educational and Health Services (1,900), Other Services (1,200), and Manufacturing (1,100).
The Government sector was the only sector to report a job gain for the year-over, with an estimated growth of 100 jobs. some of those jobs are temporary positions hired to complete the U.S. census.
California’s unemployment rate improved to an even 11 percent in September as the state’s employers added 96,000 jobs, the EDD reported. California has now regained more than a third (38 percent) of the 2,615,800 nonfarm jobs lost during March and April as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The total of unemployment benefits providing support for California workers and local economies during this historic COVID-19 pandemic has now hit $101 billion in just seven months. About $55 billion of that is in regular state-provided Unemployment Insurance benefits which is more than double what was paid in the three worst years of the Great Recession combined.
