North Bay Employers Add August Jobs as Labor Force Shrinks 1.1% to 2.4%
Updated
Updated · The Santa Rosa Press Democrat · Sep 20
North Bay Employers Add August Jobs as Labor Force Shrinks 1.1% to 2.4%
1 articles · Updated · The Santa Rosa Press Democrat · Sep 20
Summary
August payrolls rose across much of the North Bay even as every county posted a smaller labor force than a year earlier, leaving unemployment declines less reassuring because fewer residents were working or seeking work.
Healthcare drove much of the hiring: Solano added about 1,000 healthcare jobs, Sonoma healthcare employment rose about 2.6%, Marin gained about 500 jobs, and Mendocino’s private education and health services added 280.
Solano showed the sharpest split, with roughly 400 employer jobs added over the year while its labor force fell about 4,800 and employed residents dropped roughly 4,000; its unemployment rate still improved to 5.5% from 5.7%.
Napa posted the region’s lowest August unemployment rate at 4.3%, followed by Marin at 4.4% and Sonoma at 4.5%, while Lake remained highest at 7.2%; California’s unadjusted rate was 5.4%.
Statewide data pointed the same way: California’s labor force fell by more than 337,000 from a year earlier, and economists said retirements, out-migration and noisy preliminary surveys could all be contributing.