May ushered in some welcome news for Stanislaus County as the unemployment rate reached a level that hasn’t been seen since the pre-recession days.
The unemployment rate in Stanislaus County for May was at 11.1 percent, down from a revised rate of 12.2 percent in April, and below the year-ago estimate of 12.7 percent, according to the latest report from the Employment Development Data.
There were 210,300 people employed in Stanislaus County in May and 26,300 unemployed, according to the EDD.
The decline in unemployment locally was largely due to increased hiring rates in the farming, manufacturing and construction sectors. Farming recorded the largest increase with an estimated 3,500 jobs added in May, followed by manufacturing with approximately 700 new positions, and construction with approximately 400 new jobs.
The two sectors to record job declines in May in Stanislaus County were Professional and Business Services, which includes everything between administrative jobs to janitorial services, and Government. The Professional and Business Services lost an estimated 300 jobs and Government dropped approximately 200 positions, all of which were attributable to local school districts, the EDD reported. Many of those are seasonal lay-offs.
The unemployment rate in Merced County fell from 14.3 percent in April to 12.5 percent in May. San Joaquin County saw the unemployment rate dip to 10.3 percent, down from 11.7 percent in April.
The unemployment rate in California was at 7.1 percent and the nation’s was at 6.1 percent for the same time period.
The EDD estimates the number of Californians holding jobs in May was 17,235,000, an increase of 40,000 from April 2014, and up 305,000 from the employment total in May of last year. The number of people unemployed in California was 1,423,000, down by 35,000 over the month, and down by 261,000 compared with May of last year.
Turlock saw its unemployment rate fall from 9.3 percent in April to 8.4 percent in May. Denair’s rate dropped from 6.7 percent to 6 percent in May. Hughson saw a decrease from 16.1 percent to 14.6 percent, as did Keyes, which saw the unemployment fall from 21.8 percent in April to 20 percent in May. Ceres saw a drop from 15.4 percent to 13.9 percent.
The jobs and professions having the most help wanted ads in Stanislaus County for May were: Registered Nurses – 473; Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers – 281; Retail Salespersons – 136; Physical Therapists – 130; Customer Service Representatives – 122; First-Line Supervisors of Retail Sales Workers – 110; Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing — 105; Occupational Therapists — 98; Critical Care Nurses — 93; and Insurance Sales Agents – 88.
The 10 companies that posted the most help wanted ads for May in Stanislaus County were: TruStaff – 105; Soliant — 102; Supplemental Health Care – 77; Tenet Healthcare Corporation — 76; Modesto City Schools — 63; Ceres Unified School District – 56; Turlock Unified School District — 53; California State University System — 48; Newman-Crows Landing Unified — 43; and Sutter Health – 42.
