Jobless rate falls in California and Valley

California’s unemployment rate fell to 6.1 percent in August and also fell in the Northern San Joaquin Valley, though the jobless rate here remains higher than the state average.

The state’s jobless rate was 7.4 percent in August 2014, according to the California Employment Development Department, which released its latest unemployment figures Friday. The August unemployment rate in the Valley was:

▪  8.5 percent in Stanislaus County, down from 10.2 percent a year ago

▪  9.7 percent in Merced County, down from 11.3 percent a year ago

▪  8.3 percent in San Joaquin County, down from 10 percent a year ago

The numbers released by the EDD don’t take into account people who have stopped looking for work.

While California’s jobless rate continues to fall, it remains higher than the U.S. unemployment rate. The Labor Department reported Friday that the national jobless rate was 5.1 percent in August, down from 6.1 percent in August 2014.

The EDD reported that California added 36,300 nonfarm jobs in August and has added slightly more than 2 million jobs since the economic recovery began in February 2010, including 470,000 jobs in the past year. Statewide, seven of 11 employment classifications saw job gains, including construction, transportation, financial activities, educational and health services, leisure and hospitality, and government.

The Valley added 7,200 farm and nonfarm jobs from August 2014 to last month, with 4,300 of them in San Joaquin, 2,100 in Stanislaus and 800 in Merced counties. The three counties employed 495,600 people last month.

The EDD reported that the occupations with the most help-wanted ads in August for Stanislaus County were heavy truck and tractor-trailer drivers (732 ads), registered nurses (599 ads), retail sales people (171 ads), supervisors of retail sales people (154 ads), customer service representatives (153 ads), maintenance and repair workers (142 ads), physical therapists (131 ads), supervisors of production and operating workers (121 ads), light truck and delivery drivers (118 ads), and supervisors of office and administrative workers (110 ads).

This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Jobless rate falls in California and Valley."