Orange County’s yearly job losses continued in May, while employment picked up slightly from April.
The county had 1.497 million nonfarm jobs in May, down by 21,000, or 1.4%, from a year earlier, according to the state Employment Development Department.
The finance sector, including mortgages, and construction led the decline, as they have for months now.
The decline marks the seventh straight month of yearly job losses for the county since November.
Many economists consider two straight quarters of job losses to signal a local recession.
The county continued to pick up jobs on a monthly basis, albeit at a subtle pace. Employers added 3,300 jobs from March, a 0.2% gain.
The healthcare, education and trade, transportation and utilities sectors drove the gain.
The county’s unemployment rate in May was 4.8%, up from a revised 4.4% in April and above the year-ago estimate of 3.5%.
