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The county’s unemployment rate reached 4.8 percent in July, up 0.2 percent from June and up 0.4 percent from July 2006, according to data released this morning from the state’s Employment Development Department.
California’s rate was 5.5 percent in July, and the nation’s rate was 4.9 percent.
From June to July, the county job total dropped by 7,200, with seasonal education job losses mitigated by gains in leisure and hospitality and construction.
Year-over-year, employment grew by 13,800 jobs, or 1.1 percent. (Last month, the EDD reported an anemic 0.1 percent growth from June 2006 to June 2007.) The gains were largely in leisure and hospitality and professional services.
The losses were concentrated in real estate and manufacturing. Of the 1,500 jobs lost in the financial services sector, 94 percent were in real estate, the EDD reported. And manufacturing recorded a loss of 1,100 jobs.