Orange County added 9,000 jobs in November, continuing a streak of monthly job gains since a dip in August.
The local unemployment rate, which is not seasonally adjusted, stayed at 5% despite last month’s hires. OC had 1,511,300 jobs, according to the state Employment Development Department.
OC’s trade, transportation and utilities sector added 5,900 jobs. A gain in retail trade of 6,400 jobs was offset by a drop in the number of jobs in wholesale trade. The sector had 263,500 jobs overall, a growth of less than 1% for the year.
The education and health services sector added 2,600 jobs for a total of 195,900. That’s a gain of 5.9% from the same time in 2013. About 60% the year-over-year increase was due to hiring in healthcare and social assistance, according to the agency.
The number of government jobs grew by 2,000, with local government adding 2,200 jobs and state government cutting 200. Federal job numbers stayed the same. Overall, government jobs here totaled 154,200, up about 1.6% year-over-year.
Manufacturing added 500 jobs for a total of 157,300. The sector’s employment base has contracted 1.4% over the year.
Employers in construction cut 1,000 jobs, for a total of 87,400. The sector has grown 9.7% since last November, the biggest year-over-year increase among OC’s various industries.
Businesses in leisure and hospitality cut 600 jobs, for a total of 193,600. The sector has grown 2.7% over the past year.
The unadjusted jobless rate for California was 7.1%, up from 7% in October and down from 8.2% in Nov. 2013.
The unadjusted rate for the U.S. in November was 5.5%, unchanged from October and down from a year earlier.
The more widely reported seasonally adjusted numbers indicate that the jobless rate was 7.2% for California and 5.8% for the U.S. in November.
