Stanislaus job rate improving, but still behind state

Local jobless numbers continued to improve in April, showing a continued, if slow, economic recovery in the Northern San Joaquin Valley.

Statewide, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3 percent, down a tenth of a point from the month before, the Employment Development Department said. It was the lowest statewide unemployment rate since June 2007.

In Stanislaus County, the unemployment rate in April stood at 9 percent, down from a revised 9.5 percent in March and nearly a percentage point less than the April 2015 rate of 9.9. The biggest gains came in the areas of trade, transportation and utilities, and leisure and hospitality, numbers from the EDD showed.

Merced County’s unemployment rate for April was 11.2 percent, down from 12.4 in March and 11.9 in April 2015.

Job growth statewide in April was a robust 59,600, up sharply from the 5,200 jobs added in March. The numbers suggest California is “on track for another good year in 2016,” said economist Stephen Levy, of the Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy, in a note to reporters.

The jobs report came exactly a week after Gov. Jerry Brown, unveiling his revised budget blueprint, urged the Legislature to rein in spending after April income tax revenues came in about $1.2 billion less than expectations. Although his revised budget projects that the economy will continue to expand at least through June 2017, the governor warned Californians that a slowdown could be coming.

“Like everything else, things don’t last forever,” he said last week. “The surging tide of revenue is beginning to turn.”

Over the past year, California has added 450,200 jobs, a growth rate of 2.8 percent.

This story was originally published May 20, 2016 at 11:21 AM with the headline "Stanislaus job rate improving, but still behind state."