Unemployment rate falls across California, in Valley

California’s unemployment rate dipped slightly in April to 6.3 percent as the economic recovery created nearly 30,000 new jobs, a trend also seen in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

The state Employment Development Department reported Friday that California’s rate fell from 6.5 percent in March. A year ago the rate was 7.8 percent. California still exceeds the U.S. unemployment rate of 5.4 percent. Nearly 1.2 million Californians are unemployed, though that is a quarter-million fewer than last year.

Stanislaus County’s unemployment rate was 9.8 percent in April, down from 10.3 percent in March and 11.6 percent in April 2014. The unemployment rate was 13.5 percent in Merced County in April, down from 12.7 percent in March and 13.5 percent in April 2014. And in San Joaquin County, the joblessness rate was 8.8 percent in April, down from 9.4 percent in March and 10.7 percent in April 2015.

California added 29,500 nonfarm payroll jobs last month, for a total of nearly 1.9 million new jobs since the economic recovery began in 2010. That followed a revised gain of 40,500 jobs in March. Eight categories added a total of nearly 36,000 jobs in April. Professional and business services had the largest increase. Financial activities saw the biggest drop in jobs.

Stanislaus, Merced and San Joaquin counties added a total of 11,200 jobs from April 2014 to April 2015, according to the EDD. San Joaquin County accounted for most of the jobs, with 7,100 of them. The county saw increases in all of its economic sectors, including construction (1,200 jobs,) manufacturing (1,000 jobs) and trade, transportation and utilities (1,800 jobs).

Job growth was mixed in Merced and Stanislaus counties, with some sectors losing jobs while others gained them. For instance, Stanislaus lost 1,800 manufacturing jobs in the last year while adding 1,300 in educational and health services and 1,100 in professional and business services.

This story was originally published May 22, 2015 at 4:52 PM with the headline "Unemployment rate falls across California, in Valley."