Unemployment slightly up in Stanislaus, steady across California
Unemployment in Stanislaus County rose slightly between December and January, new data show.
According to the state Economic Development Department, Stanislaus posted a January unemployment rate of 7.1%, up from 6.1% in December 2021. Statewide, unemployment remained steady at 5.8%. Local data is not seasonally adjusted.
In January 2021, local unemployment was at 10.1%, while the statewide rate was 8.8%.
Nationally, unemployment in January remained steady at 4%, compared with 6.3% in January 2021.
Jeff Michael, the director of public policy programs at the University of the Pacific’s McGeorge School of Law, said the dip in employment from December to January is expected as the holiday season winds down. Stanislaus experienced job loss across most industries, with the highest loss in the trade, transportation and utilities sector — which includes retail.
“The recovery is not quite as fast now as it is in other parts of the state,” Michael said. “If you look at earlier parts of the recovery, Stanislaus was doing better than the rest of the state and now some of the urban economies have been catching up.”
He said the state hasn’t reached its full recovery yet, but he expects the unemployment numbers to get better as the year goes on.
The surge of employment across the state makes Michael hopeful that despite inflation, supply chain issues and the war in Ukraine — which has led President Joe Biden to halt Russian gas imports — recovery will continue.
“I expect there to be more of an impact on the consumer side, where it hits consumer confidence as well as consumer spending,” he said. “When people are putting more into the gas tank, they’ve got to cut back elsewhere, or they stay home.”
To help fund The Bee’s economic development reporter with Report for America, go to https://bit.ly/ModestoBeeRFAThis story was produced with financial support from the Stanislaus Community Foundation, along with the GroundTruth Project’s Report for America initiative. The Modesto Bee maintains full editorial control of this work.
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 6:30 AM.
