SLO County unemployment falls to 7 percent

April 1, 2013

unemployWith 7 percent unemployment, San Luis Obispo County is now ranked fourth out of 58 California counties for lower numbers of unemployed workers, according to a report released Friday by the California Employment Development Department.

In California, Marin County is ranked number one with an unemployment rate of 5.4 percent and Colusa County comes in on the bottom with an unemployment rate of 25.9 percent.

The SLO County unemployment rate fell from 7.5 percent in January to 7 percent in February.

During the past year, significant increases were seen in the professional and business services sector with an additional 2,100 positions. In the hospitality industry, 900 more jobs were gained at bars and restaurants.

The biggest decline was seen in state government non-education positions, which lost 400 jobs over the past 12 months.

SLO County’s unemployment rate is lower than the national average of 8.1 percent and the state’s 9.7 percent rate.

 


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Yeah SLO county!! Of course these jobs will provide the means to buy a $300,000+ starter home for our working class, right?.


This is much like the inflation figure we’re often given… the government had to take out a couple minor things (like food and fuel) in order to show that it’s not so bad.


I don’t believe these stats.


I think the figures are accurate, but the formula is over-tweaked (always has been) and the bigger picture of people leaving the workforce and/or giving up seeking employment (or even under-employment counting as employment) are not considered.


Who really trusts government information anyway? Well, kids do, but that’s for another discussion.


“Among the real job creation that is going on, a bunch of it is coming from — surprise — red states like Texas, while a lot of blue-state cities are struggling to compete for businesses and jobs. The WSJ reports that only 14 of the country’s 100 biggest cities have more jobs than they did pre-2008/2009 recession, and almost half of those are in Texas:”


“Six of them are in Texas, according to researchers at the Brookings Institution, who recently analyzed local economic conditions through the end of 2012. …”


“Robust employment in the oil and gas industries helped the Texas cities, although data from the Texas Workforce Commission suggests the job recovery has come from a variety of industries. Austin, San Antonio, El Paso, McAllen, Dallas and Houston all made the list, along with Oklahoma City, another energy town. The other cities on the list of 14 are: Omaha, Neb., Salt Lake City, Pittsburgh, San Jose, Calif., Knoxville, Tenn., Washington and Charleston, S.C. …”


“Texas has been a bright spot in the recession. Its housing market wasn’t hit as hard,” said Alec Friedhoff, a senior research analyst at Brookings, a Washington think tank. “The oil-and-gas industry has been a great boon for that part of the country.”


“Texas has added jobs every month since January 2010, according to the Texas Workforce Commission.”


http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/01/wsj-only-14-cities-have-more-jobs-now-than-before-the-recession/


Here is a report showing the hard facts about job growth and a link to the WSJ which first wrote the article.


http://hotair.com/archives/2013/04/01/wsj-only-14-cities-have-more-jobs-now-than-before-the-recession/


How many new social security ‘disability’ recipients in the county?


At least one less (Cliff) thanks to the mis-management of Family Ties…


How many people just gave up trying or moved out? Seriously, these unemployment numbers, much like the stock numbers, just do not match up with the reality I see around me every day.


This comment, in a nutshell, summarizes about 95 percent of the comments on this site. If facts don’t hew to my perception of the world, they must be wrong.


Why would you insult the web site in order to make your point? What I gather from the comments on this thread is only a questioning of the data used in determining the unemployment rate in SLO County. I surmise…if the facts hew to your perception of the world, they should not be questioned.


Facts are facts. When the unemployment rate was above 8 I didn’t say, oh no, that’s not true. When the unemployment rate was high, nobody seemed to question the stats.


Facts may be facts, but there are not many facts listed here. We’re given one number, and while that may be all you need, other people often like to see HOW a figure is arrived at. The devil is in the details, as the saying goes.


Pretty sad when you get upset about comments on a news website because the people commenting dare ask questions. I’m not sure I even want to continue, for I might start pointing out how silence and blind acceptance of government has served mankind in the past.