Orange County’s unemployment rate was 3.4% in March, unchanged from 3.4% in February and above the 3.3% seen in March last year, according to the state’s Employment Development Department.
The state’s unemployment rate was 4.8% in March while the U.S.’s was 3.6%.
Nonfarm OC employment declined 700 jobs from February to March when 1.69 million were employed.
The county has surpassed the February 2020 pre-pandemic employment level of 1.68 million jobs.
Six of the 11 industry sectors saw job losses.
Leading the job decline was the professional and business services sector, down 1,300, mostly in the categories of professional, scientific and technical services. Other sectors reporting declines were financial activities, down 1,200 jobs and trade transportation and utilities, off 900 jobs.
The biggest sector to increase was leisure and hospitality, which added 1,600 jobs.