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OC Unemployment Drops to 3.7% in February

Orange County’s unemployment rate fell to 3.7% from a revised 4.2% in January and below the 7.4% in February last year, according to the state’s Employment Development Department.The state’s unemployment rate was 4.8%. The February U.S. unemployment rate was 4.1%. Nonfarm OC employment gained 17,500 jobs from January to February when 1.62 million were employed. OC employment is up 92,800 jobs from the same period a year ago.The county remains below the February 2020 pre-pandemic employment level of 1.68 million jobs. Some 77% of the 269,400 jobs lost during the pandemic have been recovered.

Seven of the 11 industry sectors saw job increases.

Leisure and hospitality added 5,300 jobs, with most of the increases in accommodation and food services, up 3,700.

Construction rose 5,200 jobs while professional and business services climbed 3,000.

Financial activities saw the biggest decline, 2,200 jobs.

About 17.3 million worked in California in February, an increase of 138,100 jobs from January and up 1.11 million jobs from a year earlier.The state has now recovered 88% of the 2.76 million jobs lost in March and April of 2020 due to the pandemic.Statewide, all 11 industry sectors added jobs month-over-month, led by 30,400 in leisure and hospitality sector, followed by a 22,100 gain in construction.

People receiving unemployment benefits rose 12,483 to 425,221 from 412,738 in January.

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Peter J. Brennan
Peter J. Brennan
With four decades of experience in journalism, Peter J. Brennan has built a career that spans diverse news topics and global coverage. From reporting on wars, narcotics trafficking, and natural disasters to analyzing business and financial markets, Peter’s work reflects a commitment to impactful storytelling. Peter’s association with the Orange County Business Journal began in 1997, where he worked until 2000 before moving to Bloomberg News. During his 15 years at Bloomberg, his reporting often influenced financial markets, with headlines and articles moving the market caps of major companies by hundreds of millions of dollars. In 2017, Peter returned to the Orange County Business Journal as Financial Editor, bringing his heavy business industry expertise. Over the years, he advanced to Executive Editor and, in 2024, was named Editor-in-Chief. Peter’s work has been featured in prestigious publications such as The New York Times and The Washington Post, and he has appeared on CNN, CBC, BBC, and Bloomberg TV. A Kiplinger Fellowship recipient at The Ohio State University, he leads the Business Journal with a dedication to uncovering stories that matter and shaping the local business community and beyond.
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