Orange County lost 63,600 jobs in August from a year earlier, an improvement from the 68,000 jobs lost in July from the previous year.
Unemployment was unchanged at 9.6% from a revised number for July, according to the state Employment Development Department, leaving some to speculate the county’s job downturn may be leveling out.
The county had 1.4 million nonfarm jobs in August, down 6,200 jobs from July.
The number of people employed here fell 4.3% from a year earlier.
Government jobs took the biggest hit in August, with a loss of 2,800 positions since July. Most of the workers were cut from local governments.
Leisure and hospitality also saw a decline of 1,200 jobs, even though there were some signs of recovery in specific sectors.
On yearly reporting, the downturn in development has eliminated nearly 12,000 jobs. But the construction industry reported a gain of 500 jobs in August from July.
Professional and business services recorded the second largest job loss on an annual reporting, shedding 10,400 jobs with 59% of the job losses concentrated in administrative and support services, which includes temporary help firms. Manufacturing reported a loss of 10,100 jobs.
