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Stanislaus County Sees Improvement In Unemployment Rate
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Job seekers found work at a higher rate than anticipated in Stanislaus County in April; with the region seeing an 8.6 percent unemployment rate, down slightly from the March rate.

The unemployment rate for Stanislaus County recorded a slight dip between April and March, but came in well below where the Employment Development Department thought the area would be one year ago.

Stanislaus County’s unemployment rate for April came in at 8.6 percent, down from the 8.7 percent posted in March, according to the latest numbers from the EDD. The rate was significantly lower than the year-ago estimate of 17.2 percent.

Most industry sectors were able to post job gains in Stanislaus County for the month of April. The re-opening of more businesses, especially restaurants, hotels and entertainment venues led to a sizeable increase in jobs in the Leisure and Hospitality sector. For the month, the sector added approximately 1,200 positions, according to the EDD.

The Farming sector, which typically begins to add more jobs as the temperatures get warmer, added an estimated 500 positions for the month.

Mining, Logging and Construction added about 300 jobs for the month of April, followed by Government with 200, Professional and Business Services at 200 and Other Services with approximately 100 more jobs than the previous month.

Information and Financial Services were both flat for the month.

Educational and Health Services recorded the most job losses for the month, with an estimated decrease of 200. Manufacturing and Trade, Transportation and Utilities each saw a drop of about 100 positions in April.

Stanislaus County had an estimated labor force of 237,800 with 217,300 employed and 20,400 unemployed, according to the EDD. Neighboring San Joaquin County came in at 9 percent while California as a whole had an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent in April. The national rate was at 5.7 percent for the same time period.

The EDD released data regarding the online job vacancies and the companies looking to hire for the month of April. The top 10 positions with the most job ads for the month in Stanislaus County were: Registered nurses - 521, which was down by 10 from the month prior; retail salespersons - 323, which was up by 3 from March; heavy and tractor-trailer drivers - 299, which was an increase of 54 from the previous month; sales representatives wholesale and manufacturing except scientific and technical products - 273, which dropped by 3 from March; laborer and freight, stock and material movers - 247, which grew by 29 for the month; customer service representatives - 244, which was up by 16 from the month prior; first-line supervisors of retail sales workers - 229, which was an increase of 45 from March; maintenance and repair workers - 199, which was an increase of 22 from March; managers - 158, which dropped by 1 for the month; and medical and health services managers - 150, which added 3 for the month.

The top 10 companies posting the most online job vacancies in Stanislaus County in April were: Anthem Blue Cross - 320, down by 43; Modesto City Schools - 208, up by 40; Ceres Unified School District - 203, up by 28; Turlock Unified School District - 123, which was up by 13 from March; Sutter Health - 116, down by 10; Tenet Health System - 103, down by 1; Emanuel Medical Center - 88, up by 6; Doctors Medical Center - 81, down by 12; E&J Gallo Winery - 78, down by 6; and California State University, Stanislaus - 72, up by 16.

 

Reporter Sabra Stafford from The Turlock Journal, a sister paper to The Leader and The News, contributed this story.