The county continued to lose jobs at a dramatic pace on par with the worst of the 1990s recession in May, according to the state Employment Development Department.
The county lost 71,100 nonfarm jobs last month from a year earlier, a 4.7% decline.
The unemployment rate here was 8.6% last month, up from a revised 8.4% in April and 4.7% a year earlier.
The ongoing retail slump led the jobs decline, as retailers shed 10,400 jobs in the past 12 months, and wholesalers, warehouse operators and distribution companies followed suit with nearly 9,000 job losses.
The total number of jobs lost in May matches the worst seen during the last major recession here in the early 1990s.
It’s the fourth straight month the county has lost more than 70,000 jobs on a yearly basis.
But May’s losses were down from April, when the county lost 72,600 jobs, the monthly high so far for 2009.
From April to May, the county added 300 jobs for a total workforce of 1.4 million people. The monthly gain was spurred by hotels and others hiring for the summer.
Other sectors, including business services and manufacturing, declined in the past month. Government, which had been a source of hiring for much of the past year, saw a decline of 500 workers from April to May.
