Humboldt County’s preliminary unemployment rate rose to 5% in June from a revised 4.4% in May after the county shed 700 jobs and about 300 workers left the labor force.
Education drove much of the decline: state government educational services fell 10% in June and 14.3% from a year earlier, with local economists also reporting a 45% jump in new unemployment claims to 524.
Employment has now fallen about 1% in each of the last three months on a seasonally adjusted basis, while Craigslist job listings also declined in June from May.
Redway posted the county’s highest June unemployment rate at 8.5%, followed by Rio Dell at 8.2%; Eureka was 4.5%, Fortuna 3.8% and Trinidad 3.1%.
The local deterioration contrasted with broader trends: California’s unemployment rate improved to 5.2% in June from 5.3% even as the state lost 2,900 jobs, while U.S. unemployment was essentially flat.