Orange County’s unemployment rate fell to 2.7% in September from a revised 3.0% in August and below the 5.0% rate seen in September last year, according to the state’s Employment Development Department.
The state’s unemployment rate was 3.7% in September while the U.S.’s was 3.3%.
Nonfarm OC employment climbed 10,500 jobs from August to September when 1.67 million were employed.
The county remains below the February 2020 pre-pandemic employment level of 1.68 million jobs. The OC economy added 73,300 jobs since September 2021.
Only four of the 11 industry sectors saw job increases.
The largest increase was 9,400 in government, as the public schools returned from summer recess.
The next biggest growth sector was education and health services, up 3,800.
Financial activities decreased the most, falling 1,600 jobs, led by job losses in insurance, real estate and rental leasing.
Other sectors reporting decreases included construction, 700; manufacturing, 400; information, 200; and trade transportation and utilities, 1,300; and leisure and hospitality, 500.
About 17.7 million worked in California in July, an increase of 6,500 nonfarm payroll jobs from August and up about 712,600 jobs from a year earlier.
The state has now recovered 99.1% of the 2.76 million jobs lost in March and April 2020 due to the pandemic.
Only five of the 11 industry sectors added jobs month-over-month, led by education and health services, up 15,000, led by universities and specialty schools.
People receiving unemployment benefits fell by 16,127 to 294,085, down from 310,212 in August.
