Orange County ended 2009 with 48,900 jobs lost in December from a year earlier, part of a continuing improvement from the worst of the recession.
The county’s unemployment rate was 9.1% last month, down from 9.6% in November 2009 and up from 6.6% a year earlier, according to the state Employment Development Department.
The county saw a 3.3% drop in nonfarm employment in December from a year earlier.
The nearly 49,000 jobs lost in December is historically large for the county but marks a pullback from the high of 72,600 annual job losses hit in April, when the recession was in full swing.
From November to December, the county actually added 600 jobs for a total of 1.4 million workers.
Retail hiring for the holidays led the monthly gain as stores added 1,600 workers.
Hotels and others in the leisure and hospitality sector added 1,300 employees for the month.
Professional and business services grew by 600 jobs from December to November.
Job losses in government, construction, manufacturing, technology and education and health services offset gains in other sectors.
For December versus a year earlier, construction continued to lead job losses with 10,800 workers let go.
The trade, transportation and utilities sector, which includes retailers and related services, saw a yearly loss of 10,600 jobs, despite the monthly hiring by retailers in December from November.
